Illinois gets homecourt edge all the way to Final 4

Illinois couldn't have a better draw unless the NCAA tournament was moved to Assembly Hall.

The top-ranked Illini drew the overall No. 1 seed and the Chicago Regional on Sunday, essentially giving them homecourt advantage for the entire NCAA tournament. All three rounds are a three-hour drive or less from campus, and the regional finals are in Chicago, where most of the players grew up.

"It gives us a great advantage," Roger Powell Jr. said. "Our fan support is so strong. Even if we went far away, I'm sure they all would have came. This just makes it easier on their gas money, you might say."

Illinois set its sights on a No. 1 seed months ago, with Nick Smith saying in October, "It's St. Louis or bust." Which No. 1 really didn't matter, though the Illini know their geography as well as anybody else.

And the Illini made it easy on the selection committee, going 32-1, spending almost the entire season at No. 1 and winning the Big Ten title and conference tournament.

Even a loss in the regular-season finale didn't hurt them, though it had seemed to reinforce what doubters had been saying all along: The big men are weak, there is little, if any, depth and the Big Ten isn't the ACC. The Illini may have kept their No. 1 ranking last week, but 22 voters preferred North Carolina.

But Illinois won the Big Ten tournament Sunday after North Carolina lost to Georgia Tech in the ACC semifinals. The Tar Heels finished the year 27-4. All the other top schools finished with at least four losses.

"We put ourselves in the position we wanted to be in. All we have to do is take advantage of it," said James Augustine, the most valuable player in the Big Ten tournament. "We're happy with the position we're in."

They should be. While other tournament teams will be spending much of their time traveling — Alabama-Birmingham was sent to Boise, Idaho, for the opening round — the Illini could hitch rides and still make it with time to spare.

Indianapolis, where the Illini will play 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday, is a two-hour drive. Chicago is less than 2 1/2 hours away, and St. Louis is on the state line, a mere three-hour jaunt.

And talk about fan-friendly. When Illinois played in the Wooden Classic in December, Illini fans overran the city. Chicago is merely an extension of Champaign, home to eight players and the largest concentration of alumni.