Western Illinois vs Northwestern Odds, Picks & Predictions – CFB Week 2

• Western Illinois heads to Evanston to take on Northwestern in Week 2 college football action!
• The updated Western Illinois vs Northwestern odds favor the Wildcat by 27.5 points
• Read below for Western Illinois vs Northwestern odds, picks, and prediction

This game begs the question. For one, can Northwestern recover from the disaster that was last week? The Wildcats scored a grand total of three points and lost 23-3. Fortunately, Western Illinois is a non-major that lost to Illinois 52-3 in Week 1.

Northwestern still expects to win easily with the over/under set at 51.5 points, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. The game will be broadcast live on FS1 and streamed on Fox ONE. Kickoff will be scheduled just after 7:30 p.m. ET.

Western Illinois vs Northwestern Odds

Northwestern is favored by 27.5 points with -9000 moneyline odds, implying a 98.9% win probability for the Wildcats. Western Illinois are currently +2500 underdogs, representing a 3.85% chance to win, per the oddsmakers.

The total is set at 51.5 points, with even juice on the Over and Under.

Odds as of September 5, 2025, at DraftKings Sportsbook. Examine the prime College Football betting apps for Western Illinois-Northwestern.

Western Illinois vs Northwestern Picks:

Now, the biggest problem is trying to gauge how a team that looked so bad in its season opener can be this much of a favorite. However, if anyone watched Western Illinois and Illinois, one can kind of see why. The Leathernecks ran for 27 yards on 26 carries against Illinois. Meanwhile, the offense coasted as Luke Altmeyer only tossed 21 passing attempts, and Illinois piled up 440 yards of offense.

Western Illinois will probably be thankful when this game is over. Playing FBS schools is lucrative but not particularly fun as we saw last Friday.

The question now is can Northwestern get well enough to cover the around four-touchdown spread? Yes, some sites have this spread as high as 28.5 points.

I am taking one huge risk and hoping the Wildcats figure this out for one week. It will be close, but Northwestern should be able to at least score 30+ points and hold on to cover.

Friday CFB Picks:

• Northwestern -27.5 Spread (-110) and Game Total Under 51.5 (-110)

Western Illinois vs Northwestern Predictions

• Game Winner Prediction: Northwestern
• Prop Prediction: Northwestern First Drive Touchdown (+105 ML at DraftKings)

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Now, the first couple of weeks have driven bettors batty. For one, so many unexpected results have been filtered in with the predictable ones. However, Northwestern comes off an ugly loss. Losing to Tulane is not shameful. Losing the way they did was. Preston Stone turned the ball over five times himself (four INT’s, one fumble lost). Thankfully, Western Illinois figures to provide a little less pushback.

Western Illinois is susceptible to the run and the pass alike. Defensively, this is one of those teams a squad can get well against. Northwestern wants to establish the run a little better. They ran 27 times for only 76 yards last week versus “The Green Wave.”

David Braun and the Wildcats are in the spotlight here. This game looms large given that they face the Oregon Ducks next weekend at home. No one is counting on the Wildcats staying close against Oregon there.

Northwestern has +40000 odds to make the College Football Playoff. More than likely, those numbers will not change much given that the Wildcats face Oregon and Penn State in October. Given that Northwestern is projected to finish in the lower half of the Big 10 standings, no one should be surprised.

Western Illinois vs Northwestern Head to Head

The programs have indeed met once before. That was unexpected.

• September 20th, 2014: Northwestern 24, Western Illinois 7

Yes, the fact that this game was 11 years ago helps little but provides a tiny bit of history here.

Northwestern must dust off what happened against Tulane. David Braun and Preston Wilson may both be in big trouble if the Wildcats do not win big on Friday night.