ESPN tournament expert Joe Lunardi said Illinois was still a two seed. Daily Herald writer Lindsey Wilhite said Illinois was a three seed, while the NCAA Tournament committee had the most important word and made them a four.

Fans tend to look at the bracket and find the pitfalls and teams who were forgotten, but it is obvious the athletes look at it differently. All three Illinois captains said they were expecting a three or four seed in the tournament and said any pitfalls in their bracket were because they did not take care of business during the regular season.

“We have nobody else to blame besides ourselves,” head coach Bruce Weber said.

At 5 p.m. Illinois’ future was set and all other factors were thrown out the window, all besides what could be done to make a run in this tournament. Illinois was placed in the Washington D.C. region and will start play in San Diego – a farther tournament trip than the team may be accustomed to.

Last year, Illinois traveled by bus to Indianapolis, Chicago and eventually St. Louis – all the while enjoying landslide support from their friends, family and especially fans. Although there is a strong contingent of Illinois alumni in California, the support is lacking compared to at home.

“We are there to play basketball, our families would make it out there if we were playing on Mars,” senior James Augustine said.

In the opening round Illinois will face the Air Force Academy, a team that runs a similar system to recent Illinois opponents Georgetown and Northwestern. The players and coaches are confident in their familiarity with the Air Force style of play.

The obvious key to a deep tourney run: follow the leaders. The seniors who helped lead Illinois to the National Championship game will have to bring their best.

“If you have a chance to be successful they’ll have to rise up and play like seniors,” Bruce Weber said.

The Illini are heading into March Madness with a unique feeling as opposed to years past. Last year the Illini were the No. 1 overall seed and were the world beaters expected to, at worst, make the Final Four. This year they have a lower seed and are looking ahead to teams like UCONN and North Carolina in their own bracket. Weber said that if the team was to make a deep run, it would be a surprise to most.

“We had much more pressure last year,” Weber said. “Even if we went undefeated, a loss in the first or second round would have made the season feel like a failure. In my mind this year we are a little bit of an underdog.”

The pressure is off and the Illini will try to get their tournament run started in the California sun.

“I think last year’s team had to deal with so much,” Weber said. “In a way I think this year maybe the travel will be a blessing. You don’t have to deal with the hundreds of people in the lobby and going underneath hotels and going up through kitchen elevators.”