Just under an hour away from the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, Eastern students and Charleston residents are getting ready to cheer on the Illini this Saturday when they play Louisville in the Final Four.

One lucky Eastern student won’t be watching the games from home or the bars.

Shane Westen, a sophomore recreation administration major, won two tickets from a raffle in his hometown of Emden to each Final Four game. He also won two tickets to the championship game, each worth approximately $850-$1000.

Westen’s mom doesn’t like fundraisers, so when his sister had to sell raffle tickets for her sophomore-class fundraiser, she bought all $80 worth, he said.

“She would have donated the money anyway, so she just bought the tickets,” Westen said.

His mother said if she won, Westen and his brother would get to go to the games to see his favorite team play.

And their wishes has come true.

Westen’s mother will attend the championship game with him in place of his brother, who had prior plans.

Westen was “fired up” when he found out about the tickets during Christmas break, he said.

“Because it’s in St. Louis, I wouldn’t have to fly anywhere to go to the game; we could just drive there for the day,” Westen said.

He’s even had some offers from friends to buy the tickets, but the price, at hundreds of dollars, isn’t worth it, he said.

Westen has high expectations for the games now that he will watch them in person.

“I thought (the Illini would) make it to the Final Four, but I didn’t think they’d make it to the championship game,” he said. “I really expect them to make it now.”

Although the seats aren’t the best available in the Edward Jones Dome, Westen doesn’t care.

“It doesn’t matter,” Westen said. “I’ll be there watching it live.”

Students who don’t have the luxury of seeing the game in person have started to make plans for this weekend.

“There’s a group of us that are going to get together and watch the game, order pizzas and hang out,” said Kurtis Allen, a sophomore communications major.

Allen, who has been a “big fan” since his childhood, said he and his friends have gotten together for almost all the games this season and are excited for Saturday’s game.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Allen said. “It’s been a long time since they’ve been to the Final Four. I’d like to see them win it all, but some of the other teams are incredibly tough.”

Some Charleston bars are preparing for a big crowd of students coming to watch the games, but most aren’t offering much out of the ordinary.

“We’ll have our regular drink specials, then 25 cent wing specials during the game,” said Brandon Batchelor, a manager at Stix.

Batchelor said he expects the bar to fill up quickly Saturday night, with a usual crowd increase of about 75 percent during games.

Roc’s Blackfront also expects a crowd during the game and is having a special on $1.50 Stag bottles, and $1 hot dogs and jalapeno sausages during the game, said bartender Davina Butler.

Hibbett Sports has even noticed a jump in the sales of Illini gear since the beginning of the week, said Manager Mark Stremming.

“We sold 85 Final Four shirts yesterday, and 36 of them were before noon,” Stremming said.

The store has a variety of merchandise in stock, from hats to several different styles of T-shirts. Customers, on average, between the ages of eight and 12 and 25 to 50, have made a run on Illini merchandise, including car magnets and T-shirts, leaving only one adult-sized shirt as of Wednesday afternoon. A new shipment of about two dozen more of each adult Final Four T-shirt style was placed Wednesday morning, Stremming said.

“We have seven or eight different kinds of T-shirts,” Stremming said. “They are all selling well- anything orange basically.”

Stremming has had many requests for Illini car magnets and other merchandise, including a pair of swimming trunks, he said.