Bruce Weber is leading the Illini to their fifth Final Four appearance and first since 1989. Elsa/Getty Images

ST. LOUIS -- More than 21,000 spectators, the overwhelming majority clad in orange, filled the entire lower bowl of the Edward Jones Dome on Friday, and as the arena clock neared the appointed 2:00 p.m. start time of practice, nearly every one of them stood in anticipation, neck craned toward the tunnel from which their heroes would soon emerge.

Center Nick Smith was the first one out, followed closely by Jack Ingram, heads down and focused, but by the time it got to Dee Brown and head coach Bruce Weber, the cheers were too loud to ignore. Weber smiled and saluted the crowd, then began leading the event precipitating such a turnout: a routine, mostly boring hour-long shootaround.

Blandness is apparently in the eye of the beholder, though. The spectators cheered every made shot, oohed and ahhed at every dunk and clapped in unison to the familiar sounds of the Illinois pep band. When the clock finally stuck 0:00 and the Illini jogged off the court, the fans stood in ovation and roared their encouragement.

Keep in mind, this same army of orange had also sat through Louisville's and Michigan State's practices beforehand. "I didn't see much red," conceded Cardinals freshman Juan Palacios.

The official name of this weekend's festivities is the Final Four, and this reporter has confirmed with his own eyes that there are indeed four different teams here. There's no question, however, as to which one is the darling of the ball. The Illini have been treated like rock stars since their arrival, whisked out the back entrance of their hotel when possible and mobbed by autograph seekers on the occasions where they do have to use the lobby.

"When Coach Weber put 'St. Louis' on the chalkboard at the beginning of the year," said Illini fan Steven King of Lewisville, Ill., a front-row spectator at Friday's open practice, "so did we."

It's been said on numerous occasions that the Illini are a "team of destiny," what with the coinciding forces of a 29-0 start, a geographically favorable bracket (Indianapolis, Chicago and St. Louis, all less than three hours from campus) and this being the program's 100th year of basketball. It's a sentiment that has grown stronger ever since the death of Weber's 81-year-old mother at the start of the postseason and their miraculous Elite Eight comeback against Arizona.

"That word -- [destiny] -- is getting thrown around a lot right now," said Smith. "I hope people are right."

Smith's teammate Warren Carter is slightly more steadfast in his belief in the team's predetermined status -- "some call it pressure [to capture the title], but we feel like it's our destiny," he said -- but the fact is, there are three equally if not more capable teams here who all have their own reasons to believe fate is on their side. Their opponent Saturday, Louisville, has defied the odds just to get here, is oozing with sentimental storylines (Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean's family tragedies, Ellis Myles' return from a season-long injury) and will have its own drove of supporters whose campus is only 80 miles farther away than Illinois'. And if the Illini do get past the Cardinals, they may face a title-game matchup against a North Carolina team that's been on a three-year rebuilding mission from the depths of an 8-20 nightmare, and whose coach, Roy Williams, many feel is meant to finally capture his first national title now that he's returned to his alma mater.

"I definitely feel it's our destiny," said Tar Heels senior Melvin Scott. "A lot of people doubted us, but we're a whole different team from last year to this year. I feel it's our time now."

All of the Final Four teams feel that way -- why shouldn't they? -- and there were countless others who probably felt that way back in October. Illinois, however, has been plotting this moment for even longer.