Updated on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 11:48 CT.
CHAMPAIGN – The University of Illinois Police Department is preparing a public safety plan ahead of this Saturday’s Final Four men’s basketball game between Illinois and University of Connecticut.
For the first time in 21 years, the Illinois men’s basketball team has made it to the penultimate round. Chants of “Final Four” and cheers erupted on campus when Illinois clinched the win over Iowa securing them a spot in the Final Four, with students scrambling to climb the Alma Mater, a statue and beloved symbol at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The department saw few incidents this past weekend as fans in Campustown celebrated Illinois’ Elite Eight win, UIPD Captain Jason Bradley said.
“We had little to no incidents whatsoever. We had little to no incidents caused by problem drinking, and no public safety incidents that we were really concerned about,” he said. “No criminal damage. No batteries. No crimes against persons. Just a great crowd that was really excited.”
Despite the smooth evening, the department is reviewing its public safety plan from last weekend, Bradley said.
“We’re reviewing what happened last week. Every incident planning process that we have we do an after-action report. We talk to our local partners. We talk to our law enforcement partners, our fire and EMS [emergency management services] partners and our campus partners to see where we can improve, so we’re taking that feedback right now,” he said. “We’re going back through our plans, and we’re hoping to be able to have the same amount of folks on the ground helping people have a good time.”
Bradley anticipates the crowds this Saturday will be even bigger.
“We’re going to be working on limiting vehicle and pedestrian interactions, keeping people where they need to be on the sidewalks, vehicles where they need to be in the roadway and helping managing those interactions,” he said.
Champaign officials reissued an emergency order limiting alcohol sales during the game. Officials previously issued the order last weekend during the Elite Eight game.
Under the order, businesses in a defined area around campus will have to serve alcoholic beverages in plastic, paper or aluminum containers before and after the game. The order also restricts the sale of packaged liquor and cocktails to go and the delivery of alcohol in and out of campus.
In a press release, city officials said the restrictions on the sale of packaged alcohol and serving alcohol in glass containers are aimed at reducing the risk of broken glass and overall will reduce the possibility of personal injury or property damage during celebratory activities.
“We understand that these restrictions may inconvenience some of our residents and local businesses, but they are being taken at the request of local law enforcement to help ensure public safety during large post-game celebrations,” Deputy Liquor Commissioner Jeff Hamilton said in a statement. “After hearing from local business owners and consulting with our law enforcement partners, we were able to make some changes for this weekend that will still ensure public safety while reducing the impact on our valued local businesses.”
Police are not expecting any major issues this weekend, Bradley said.
“We’ve got the option to enforce alcohol related restrictions with either city ordinance violations or state law,” he said, “but what we expect is that our fans are going to come out and have a great time and we’re not going to have any of those problems to deal with.”
If Illinois wins the game Saturday, similar restrictions will be enacted for Monday night’s final game.
The game starts Saturday at around 5:00 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.