A key Big Ten battle will take place on Saturday, Sept. 26 in Columbus, Ohio, with the Illinois Fighting Illini visiting the Ohio State Buckeyes at noon ET. The Illini are coming off a 48-10 win over Southern Illinois and are seeking a third consecutive season with at least nine wins. The Buckeyes dominated Kent State 59-3 in Week 3.
We'll dive into Illinois vs. Ohio State in Week 4 of the 2026 college football season below, including the best bets you can make at top sports betting apps for Saturday's game. Ohio State in Week 4 at DraftKings and get $150 in bonus bets when you spend $5+: Both teams enter this contest with one loss on the season.
Illinois fell to Duke in Week 2 while Ohio State collapsed against Texas on the road. Bret Bielema has turned Illinois into a solid team in the Big Ten, but this could be a retooling season after several key players departed from last year's nine-win squad. Ryan Day suffered another loss to a highly-ranked team, but his Buckeyes remain in contention for another national championship as long as they can take of business the rest of the way.
We'll look at the latest Illinois vs. Ohio State odds at DraftKings Sportsbook and insights from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every game 10,000 times. The model simulates every FBS game 10,000 times.
It is off to a profitable 22-19 start on all top-rated college football picks at betting sites so far this season, and it has been upgraded for the 2026 season to better factor in the transfer portal. Anybody following its picks on college football betting sites could have seen strong returns. These teams met in Champaign a season ago, where Ohio State forced three turnovers in a 34-16 victory.
The Buckeyes didn't put up gaudy numbers offensively but took advantage of short fields and Illinois' miscues. East Carolina transfer Katin Houser is in at quarterback and he's been good so far with nine total touchdowns and just two interceptions. Collin Dixon has caught seven of Houser's eight passing touchdowns, so that duo will likely command most of Ohio State's attention in this contest.
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