Illinois State Redbirds vs Auburn Tigers Picks and Predictions – April 2, 2026
Illinois State Redbirds and Auburn Tigers meet Thursday night in the NIT semifinals at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, with tipoff set for 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Illinois State enters 23-12 after knocking off Kent State, Wake Forest, and Dayton to reach this stage, while Auburn is 20-16 and into the semis after beating South Alabama, Seattle, and Nevada. This is a neutral-floor game, but the market still treats Auburn like the stronger side, which makes sense given the gap in top-end offensive ceiling. The more interesting betting question is whether Auburn should be laying this kind of number away from Neville Arena against a team that has already won twice on the road in this tournament. Illinois State has