March Madness: Illinois team, fans making final preparations for Final Four game in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS (WLS) -- The University of Illinois men's basketball team and fans are making final preparations for a Final Four game vs. UConn in Indianapolis.
Friday afternoon was just a day from tip off, as the Fighting Illini will face the the Huskies in March Madness tournament
It's Illinois' first trip in more than 20 years.
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Each team got about an hour on the court at Lucas Oil Stadium. The band and cheerleaders were also on hand.
As the team practiced Friday, the Fighting Illini Hoops Band was settling into their home for Saturday night. During Friday's practice session, they seemed to be playing for a hometown crowd. Orange and Blue filled the stands to take in the experience.
Hoops band member Paige Wheeler from Wheaton is finishing her senior year with a bang at U of I.
"This experience has been awesome," Wheeler said. "So much fun, the energy is just amazing."
Fellow band member Kyle Boone from Oswego plays the saxophone.
"It's been absolutely surreal," Boone said. "Doing four years here in the band, being able to just travel, and obviously being at all these amazing games, all the wins, hopefully we can just get two more, that would be awesome."
Toby Hackett brought his daughters to the practice. They have no tickets for the game on Saturday, but they were soaking it all up Friday.
"We left about 4:30 from Illinois, and with the time change, yeah stood in line about an hour, but it wasn't too bad," Hackett said.
It's well documented that it's been more than two decades since the Illini have been to a Final Four, but that means many of the current students were not even born yet ,or the very least were still in diapers. So, they're determined to make the most of this experience.
Illinois cheerleader Layla Kessie is a Schaumburg High School grad.
"It's such a cool experience," Kessie said. "It's so exciting. We're having such a great time."
SEE ALSO | March Madness: Illini alums from 2005 Final Four team cheering for Illinois championship
Ann Arbor, Michigan is fairly close to Indianapolis, and Michigan has a lot of fans there. But it certainly seems like Illinois fans from Champaign and throughout Illinois are the biggest crowd.
There appeared to be at least 10,000 of them watching the Illini practice Friday morning.
The Illinois-UConn game tips off Saturday at 5:09 p.m.
Whoever wins will go on to face the winner in the Arizona-Michigan Game, with the championship game happening Monday in Indianapolis.
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