Michigan State vs. Illinois: Score predictions, analysis from Spartans Wire staff

Can Michigan State football pick up its first win in nearly a month on Saturday afternoon? The Spartans Wire crew is mixed on the chances of that happening.

Michigan State is reeling at the moment in desperate need of a victory against Illinois this upcoming weekend. The Spartans have lost three straight games and come into this game with an overall record of 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play.

Illinois is also stumbling into this game, with back-to-back conference losses to open Big Ten play. Illinois is 2-3 overall like the Spartans.

Kickoff for this matchup between Michigan State and Illinois is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET from Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich. This game will be televised on FS1.

Let's take a look at our predictions for this week's matchup between Michigan State and Illinois below:

Prediction: Michigan State 9, Illinois 7

It's the movable force meets the resistable object. It's unfortunately time to accept that Michigan State is fully in a rebuilding year. However, Illinois is also pretty terrible. It's going to be a rock fight, but I'm giving MSU the edge at home.

Prediction: Illinois 27, Michigan State 20

Neither of these teams are very good at the moment, hence, why the betting line has this game as essentially a pick'em at this point in the week. I trust the Illinois offense a little bit more than the Spartans' right now, though, and that'll be the difference in this game. I'll say it again this week, I need to see it before I can believe in it with this Spartans' offense. Last week only further proved that theory...

Prediction: Michigan State 25, Illinois 22

I'm calling my shot here. These are two teams that are reeling, desperate for a win, and I think Fitzgerald and MSU's desperation is going to trump the Fighting Illini's. These are a couple of bad football teams, but it is now or never for both to show that they can salvage this season.

Interested in our picks for the rest of the Big Ten games this week? Click here to check out our picks against the spread for each Big Ten game on the schedule this week.

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