Within seconds of the final whistle blowing in the Fighting Illini Elite Eight win, hordes of students knew exactly where they were going to celebrate on campus: the Alma Mater, a 10,000-pound bronze statue of a woman with outstretched hands.
The statue is the go-to rendezvous spot for post-game victory celebrations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“First Final Four since 2005, oh my goodness … We’ll see what happens,” said Tiffany Saxinger, recent graduate and former member of the Marching Illini band, while observing students dangling from the Alma Mater Saturday night.
But Saxinger said she knew what she was doing next: “I got faith. I’m going to Indy!”
Photos: Illinois students celebrate Final Four berth on campus
Illinois defeated Iowa 71-59 Saturday evening to grab a spot in the Final Four for the first time in 21 years. They advance to next Saturday’s national semifinal in Indianapolis and will play Connecticut in the East Region Final.
Miles Mosher, another Marching Illini waving a Fighting Illini flag, noted that “he wasn’t even born” the last time the team made the Final Four.
Student Akshay Vellore called the rippling sea of orange and navy blue — fans and students waving flags, climbing the front and back sides of the statue and surrounding trees, smoking a cigar or two and participating in call and response chants — “absolutely electric.”
The quad celebrations were the culmination of a period of heady anticipation in the Campustown area, where many students live and play. Lines at bars along Green Street started hours prior to the 5 p.m. tipoff.
Students Aidan Subacz and Himani Patel were stuck in a line of nearly 100 people at Brothers Bar and Grill before the game.
Both Illinois natives, they spoke about having a team on the national stage.
“I have gotten a lot of hate from anyone outside of Illinois. They just don’t believe Illinois is a good state for some reason, whether it’s because of Illinois laws or the weather, especially, they (always tell me) I’m never coming back here again … but I think it’s a great state,” Patel said.
“It’s our time … we’re in the spotlight right now,” Subacz added.
Inside Brothers, student Trip Condon spoke between sips from beer dripped from the spigot of a beer tower.
“I think people are sleeping on us and people are starting to see what we can be. Our ceiling is probably higher than any other team in the country” Condon said, referring to the potential Illinois has as a young team that can be a consistent contender. “Worst case, we’re a tournament team. How many teams can say that throughout the country?”
Condon said the atmosphere at Campustown bars like Brothers was special.
“It’s fun, everybody out at the bar right now really cares about the team,” he said, “… you get a layup and the bar is going up.”
Illinois earns trip to Final Four for 1st time in 21 years: ‘We knew we had something special’
In an attempt to control the revelry, Champaign Mayor and Liquor Commissioner Deborah Frank Feinen introduced an emergency order Friday
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prohibiting the sale of alcohol from Campustown liquor stores during gameday evening starting at 6 p.m.The city said it implemented the order to minimize glassware projectiles and reduce public safety hazards. But it also meant liquor stores weren’t able to capitalize on the occasion like other businesses.
Among such liquor stores was Piccadilly Liquors, a store less than 50 feet away from the entrance of Brothers that had a notice for the ban taped to the door.
Subacz said he believed the order would contribute to more drunken driving.
“I think it’s stupid because for people with cars, if they’re drunk enough, it’s going to promote drunk driving to go find alcohol off campus, as opposed to the store on the corner,” he said.
But Illinois fandom wasn’t confined to the university area.
Dan Koester, a resident of Villa Grove who was in Champaign for the day to play with his band, was listening to the game in the parking lot of Merry Ann’s Diner, a 24-hour Champaign establishment well-known among students and locals.
At that moment, the Illini were losing.
“I get so excited and worked up watching on TV. I get up and pace around, and I cuss and throw things, and I’m better off just listening to it on the radio,” said lifelong fan Koester, a central Illinois native who lived on campus but attended nearby Parkland Community College.
He recalled going to nearby University of Illinois Willard Airport to meet the 1989 team after a loss shortly after leaving the military.
Koester, who also remembers the 2005 team vividly (voted by Sports Illustrated readers as the “best college basketball team to never win a title”), reflected on the changes he has seen in the Champaign area and in the basketball team.
The musician said he likes the new NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) rules that help teams more easily attract players. The rules allow student-athletes to receive compensation from third parties for use of their name, image and likeness, such as social media posts, brand appearances or promoting products and services.
“Back in the old days,” Koester said,” it was only schools like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and maybe North Carolina (that could compete) … now that we’re really good in our sports, the NIL is really helping us compete.”
On the large apartment buildings that shadow the once-quaint Green Street, Koester has a less favorable opinion.
“Living on the U. of I. campus … it was a lot of houses and lot more greenery and stuff,” he said. “Now it’s all just giant buildings. So not much of a reason for people like me to walk around down there anymore. All the places we used to go to are gone.”
Among those places, Koester said, was a bar called Mabel’s where the musician said he first saw popular Rockford band Cheap Trick play.
But memories of that 2005 Final Four team (similar in playing style to the current team though much smaller in height according to Koester) still hang in the air in Champaign.
In the 2004-05 season, the team’s 100th-year anniversary, the Fighting Illini rolled to a 37-2 record but had their dreams dashed by the North Carolina Tar Heels in the National Championship in St. Louis.
Despite high hopes for their current Fighting Illini, Vellore and his friends still hold the 2005 team as the pinnacle, and initially balked at the suggestion that the 2026 team could be better. “If we win the Natty we’re better … two more wins,” Vellore said.