Illinois Has Clear Crowd Advantage For Saturday's Final Four

With the Men's Final Four set to tip off Saturday night, it appears one particular fanbase will have an edge at Lucas Oil Stadium. Illinois punched its ticket to the Final Four by defeating Iowa 71-59. Keaton Wagner led the charge with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. Andrej Stojakovic ...

by Chris Rosvoglou

Apr 3, 2026

Keaton Wagner with the ball for Illinois.

With the Men's Final Four set to tip off Saturday night, it appears one particular fanbase will have an edge at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Illinois punched its ticket to the Final Four by defeating Iowa 71-59. Keaton Wagner led the charge with 25 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. Andrej Stojakovic and Tomislav Ivisic also stepped up with 30 combined points.

“I don’t want anybody to think this is it,” Stojakovic said. “We didn’t get to the Final Four just to get there. We’re coming to win two more games.”

Well, it sounds like a good portion of the Illinois fanbase made the trip to Indianapolis with a championship on its mind.

Mar 28, 2026; Houston, TX, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) and forward Ben Humrichous (3) react in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes during an Elite Eight game of the South Regional of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
© Troy Taormina-Imagn Images&period;

Kyle Tucker of CBS Sports reported Friday that a "massive crowd" showed up for the Fighting Illini's practice session.

"There is an absolutely massive crowd of Illinois fans lined up around Lucas Oil Stadium to see the Illini practice today," Tucker wrote. "Not a surprise given proximity, but holy moly it’s a bunch."

OutKick's Trey Wallace later shared a photo of the Illinois crowd on social media. It was a legitimate sea of orange in the stands.

"I think Illinois faithful got the memo on being at the Final Four… We're talkin' bout practice," Wallace wrote.

Illinois looking for revenge in the Final Four.

Back in 2024, Uconn defeated Illinois in the Elite Eight thanks to an improbable 30-0 run.

Illinois basketball coach Brad Underwood would love nothing more than to avenge that loss to UConn and book a spot in Monday's national title game. As of this Friday, oddsmakers have his squad as slight favorites over the Huskies.

Tipoff for the Illinois-UConn game is at 6:09 p.m. ET on TBS.