Indianapolis ? Illinois spent most of this season staking its claim as the nation’s best team.

After winning 32 of 33 games, rolling to Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and protecting its No. 1 ranking for 15 consecutive weeks, Illinois finally can focus on its real mission — winning a national title.

“If I have one fear, it’s that it’s so important to make this run that I hope they don’t think too much about not losing,” coach Bruce Weber said. “I don’t want them to play scared.”

Top-seeded Illinois (32-1) knows the dangers of early NCAA Tournament games. Two years ago at the same Indianapolis dome where they open against 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson today, the Illini escaped with a 65-60 first-round victory over Western Kentucky, then lost to Notre Dame in the second round.

There’s more at stake this time.

No top seed ever has lost to a 16th seed, and whether it’s fair or not Illinois fans expect nothing less than a Final Four run.

“Every team expects to get to the Final Four, and I mean that,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said Wednesday. “Illinois has had a great season, and I don’t think anything that happens now you can be disappointed with because they’ve had a great run.”

Try telling that to the Illini.

They responded to their only loss by dicing up Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin to win the Big Ten tournament. The title was bittersweet for Weber, whose mother, Dawn, died after Friday’s victory over the Wildcats.

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The other matchups in Indianapolis are just as intriguing.

Some believe Smith’s Wildcats (25-5) deserved the last No. 1 seed. Instead, Kentucky drew the second seed in the Austin Region and a first-round matchup against Eastern Kentucky (22-8), a school located about 30 miles south of Lexington and coached by former Wildcats player Travis Ford.

Cincinnati (24-7), the seventh seed in Austin, will try to reach the round of 16 for the first time since 2001 against Iowa (21-11) and coach Steve Alford, one of Indiana’s favorite sons.

The other contest pits last year’s tournament darling, Nevada (24-6), the No. 9 seed in Chicago, against a Texas team that finished 20-10 after starting 12-2.