March Madness: Chicago-area sports bars preparing for Illinois-UConn Final Four game

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (WLS) — The success of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini so far in the March Madness NCAA men’s basketball tournament has provided a lot of excitement for people in the Chicago area, but especially for sports bars owned by Illinois alumni, like the Orange and Brew in Downers Grove.

The party was on Saturday night as Illinois fans watched their team secure a spot in the Final Four.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

“Saturday was bedlam,” Orange and Brew owner Eric Schmidt said. “We were absolutely jam-packed two hours before the game.”

The watch party was hosted by Orange and Brew in Downers Grove, owned by Eric and Carrie Schmidt, Illinois alumni who met in school and are now married. In fact, they attended the last time the Illini were in the Final Four in 2005.

They opened their bar eight years ago, catering to some of the more than 50,000 fellow Illini graduates in the Chicago area.

“Illinois has some thing that was very meaningful to my wife and me, and we wanted to make sure we created a space that was welcoming to other Illinois grads,” Schmidt said.

RELATED | Illini merch in demand at Chicago stores as fans prepare for Final Four match

The Chicago Illini Club Is hosting eight different watch parties in the Chicago area for the Final Four on Saturday, including half a dozen city locations as well as the suburbs.

Stefanie Boucher with the Chicago Illini Club graduated in 2007, and now has a daughter in the Marching Illini. She is hosting a watch party at Rep’s Place in Rolling Meadows.

“It has brought in a lot of new business people who didn’t know of Rep’s before the watch parties,” Boucher said.

She says Rep’s was also packed with fans last weekend, and the Final Four party should be even bigger. They expect the same at Orange and Brew.

“Just kind of a slice of Champaign if you will,” Schmidt said. “Someplace Illinois grads and fans can be comfortable.”

At Orange and Brew, they specialize in selling locally crafted beer, but the number one selling beer these days is the I-L-L IPA.

READ MORE | March Madness: Illinois to face UConn in first Final Four in 21 years after teams beat Iowa, Duke