The enthusiasm of Mr. Blue Hands (Ceasar Perez, above) and the Orange Krush show why Illinois is a basketball school at heart. John Biever/Sports Illustrated

AFTER 2 A.M.: Bonnie Jean's Pizza. You'll have to find this dive to enjoy its late-night fare. It's nestled above the Illini Inn on Fourth Street, up a flight of rickety stairs.

MUST-EAT: Dinner time is Burger Time in Urbana-Champaign. The White Horse fills up for two-for-one night on Monday (Wednesday is Karaoke Night) and Legend's piles its burgers high.

DOSE OF CULTURE: Krannert Art Museum, with its-8,000 piece art collection, covers all the cultural bases. The museum books the Russian National Ballet once a year and hosts monthly "Krannert Uncorked" wine tastings.

RULE #18: Urbana and Champaign, the two cities U of I straddles, differ in one major way. You have to be 19 to get into Champaign bars. It's 18 in Urbana.

MUSIC MUST-STOP: Starcourse, the school's oldest student-run organization, ensures big acts (John Mayer, Black Eyed Peas and Dave Matthews of late) stop by when they're passing through. Follenger Auditorium, which moonlights as a classroom, and Assembly Hall handle the big shows.

GETTING AROUND: Run-of-the-mill city buses make up for the lack of campus parking.

TICKET MASTER: Depends on your sport. Football sellouts are few and far between, but basketball is a little trickier. Try Illiniboard.com.

ONLY AT ILLINOIS: More popular than football, perhaps: apple-picking. Curtis Orchard in Champaign caters to frat field trips and the like.

PREGAME/POSTGAME: Two hours before kickoff, football players arrive at Irwin Drive in their best Saturday suits and do the "Illini Walk" to Memorial Stadium.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Penn State at UI football, Oct. 22

PACK YOUR: Earplugs. At 6:45 a.m. on game days, tuba blasts are not uncommon as members of the Illinois student marching band provide wake-up calls on their way to the stadium for pregame practice. Not fun for an out-of-towner crashing on a dorm couch.

RITE OF PASSAGE: Join the Block-I, the 95-year-old student cheering section on Memorial Stadium's east side, in forming one of the oldest card stunts ever.

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