ESPN College GameDay makes picks ahead of Indiana versus Illinois primetime matchup

ESPN College GameDay broadcast from Coral Gables, Florida, on Saturday morning ahead of the college football game between the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Gators.  After the snub from ESPN's College GameDay, the crew did dive into the big primetime matchup tonight between the Illinois Fighting Illini and Indiana Hoosiers on their show this morning.

Yes, the Indiana Hoosiers finally play football tonight ladies and gentlemen, after the all the hoopla, talk and hype we're finally here.

Predictions from ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and celebrity guest picker Matthew Tkachuk arrived just an hour ago and we are here to break it all down for you.

During the show's predictions segment, one of the top games of the week discussed was the Indiana Hoosiers vs the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Rece Davis hosts ESPN College GameDay, and it includes college football analysts Kirk Herbstreit Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, and Nick Saban. The celebrity guest picker who occurs everyweek was Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk, Is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion of the Florida Panthers. He has been with the team since 2022.

 Indiana enters the matchup 3-0 overall. Most recently, the Hoosiers defeated Indiana State on September 12th, 73-0. Illinois also enters this matchup with a 3-0 record with their most recent win coming against Western Michigan 38-0.

Kirk Herbstreit, Nick Saban, Desmond Howard and Matthew Tkachuk all picked Illinois to win while Indianapolis Colts legend, Pat McAfee chose Indiana to win the game.

"I like Illinois in this game," Saban said. "I think they may have a little better defense, and I think they may be the more physical team." 

"I've got Illinois on the road," Tkachuk said. "Their defense is good." 

"This is a battle of cultures," Herbstreit said. "Both these teams pride themselves on playing with a chip on their shoulder. ... The fact that Illinois has not turned it over once all year, that's got to continue today for them to win." 

Indiana and Illinois are set to play their Big Ten opener tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana on NBC.