INDIANAPOLIS – Was there enough orange in the RCA Dome?

There almost wasn’t.

At noon there were about as many Illinois fans as Kentucky fans in the building.

Kentucky is known for its ability to travel with the team.

And Illinois wasn’t scheduled to take the court for another nine and a half hours.

As David Putty would say, “You got to support the team.”

Illinois and Kentucky have two of the most rabid fan bases in college basketball. But the fans support their team about as differently as Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire talk about steroids.

Orange overload accompanies Illinois’ every movement. Kentucky seems bored with its team’s No. 2 seed.

Thursday the support wasn’t going to change a thing. Both teams struggled against two of the nine worst teams in the tournament.

And for the record, that is never a good thing.

The Wildcat faithful are used to winning. They are not spoiled, but it’s close. They are arguably the most successful college basketball program ever.

The school has seven national titles. The blue bloods can be fickle with their support.

A so-so squad led by senior forward Chuck Hayes is only up six in the second half against a school that I am told is called Eastern Kentucky. The blue and white world should be crumbling. The Wildcats did not make last year’s Sweet Sixteen.

But everything was rosy in the Bluegrass State. You would think it was still 1996.

The Wildcat faithful weren’t fazed by the possibility of being the fifth No. 2 seed to lose in the first round. They never looked worried.

How do I know? Super Fan Ashley Judd was nowhere in sight, proving the game’s worth in Kentucky. And the actual Wildcat fans in attendance never got out of their seats when the game got close.

I guess when another Final Four is on the horizon, a bad loss can be forgotten. At Kentucky, a Final Four is always on the horizon.

Not so at Illinois. Every time Illinois gets a No. 1 seed, all activity on campus stops.

Illinois is not Kentucky. Another Final Four is not already on the way. The 2005 Final Four isn’t even a given. This is Illinois’ chance. They better take advantage.

That is why orange shirts showed up hours before the team at the RCA Dome. That is why an orange shirt occupied every other seat. That is why orange shirts started “I-L-L” – “I-N-I” chants during the Nevada-Texas game.

I mean, Illinois’ band got a standing ovation when it took its courtside seat over an hour before Illinois’ tip-off.

Let me repeat that, Illinois fans were so hyped for the Illini’s tournament run that they cheered THE FREAKING BAND.

Illinois fans were doing all they could to help their team win. And Illinois needed it.

The shots weren’t falling from the perimeter. It’s the same problem that has plagued Illinois for over a week. It’s the reason the Illini may not make it to the Sweet Sixteen.

Fairleigh Dickinson had a 20-19 lead in the first half. Any time a 16 seed has a lead after the first three minutes of a game, it is a monumental event. And usually a bad sign for the one seed.

With Illinois’ lackluster tournament history, it needed to be the first one seed to lose to sixteen like Kobe Bryant needs another lawsuit.

The fans can’t will the ball into the basket. Not with all their might.

Illinois’ fans have never learned that lesson. They may want to take note of it now.