Instead, he’ll announce on Sunday that he has decided to move onto bigger and better prizes like trying to win a title in the NBA.

Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com is reporting that Burke will leave the Wolverines after his second year there and enter the 2013 NBA Draft.

Find out more of the Burke announcement at CBSSports.com

Happens often that we get an NCAA tournament after the fact that seems “OK,” “all right,” “decent” or “solid.” If that’s the case, why is it always so hard to get this thing down to just 10 games? I admit this wasn’t an all-time tourney (though didn’t we hear a lot of people expecting absolute bedlam? I sense a cyclical theme here), but it was good and emphasized/uplifted by an enjoyable final three games down in Atlanta. Two of them made the cut.

Here they are, the best of what the 2013 field had to offer after the buzzer.

Click HERE for the full story from CBSSports.com

A book by the Detroit Free Press that profiles the 2012-13 season claims Michigan claimed its “second NCAA title.” Sadly, Michigan lost the final game against Louisville Monday.

But this book was apparently pre-written and ready to go before the game ended. It’s listed on Amazon as a “pre-sale” at $10.17.

And though the cover is incorrect, collectors seem to be snapping it up because it’s rocketing up the Amazon best sellers’ list. “Blue Heaven: The A-Maize-Ing Story of the Michigan Wolverines’ Return to Glory–and Their Second NCAA Title!” was ranked 13th under books/travel/United States. It’s published by Triumph Books.

The description says, “This commemorative book on Michigan’s 2013 NCAA men’s basketball championship provides a visual account of the Wolverines’ road to glory. Through unique words and images from Michigan’s largest newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, this celebratory book takes readers from the season’s first games in November and on through the exciting 2012–2013 season, the Big Ten tournament, and the road to the Final Four in Atlanta. Including more than 100 color photographs and featuring stars Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway, Jr., and Glen Robinson III and head coach John Beilein, this keepsake book is an essential part of any fan’s collection.”

It has only one review, by Todd Ewing, who wrote, “Epic Fail! Guess you won’t be cashing in on your team losing to Louisville. Nice try, hey just put this book up for pre-order next year when the Wolverines lose again!”

The Free Press’ assistant digital editor Stefanie Murray later released a statement saying the book was released due to an error  with the book publisher, adding, “Our publisher is working with Amazon to make sure it gets removed. Hopefully at this time next year, however, we WILL be publishing either a book on Michigan or Michigan State winning the 2014 national title.”

The One Shining Moment video montage has been played after the NCAA championship game since 1987. Most look forward to it, some would wish it was put to sleep. Here are two versions of the classic that certainly will never be sanctioned by the NCAA.

First is the Mike Rice version:

If that does not please you check out Jack Nicholson and The Shining version:

The team ran onto the court to thunderous cheers and the waving of banners thanking the team for a great season reports WWJ’s Sandra McNeill.

“We want to thank you very much. I know a lot of you are doing a lot of things today and for you to welcome us back like this is very nice,” said head coach John Beilein.

The recently named 2013 College Player of the Year – Trey Burke told the fans that they help take the sting out of the tough loss Monday night against Louisville.

Trey Burke

“It was an emotional night last night and just to see you all here today, supporting us … even through the loss – it means a lot to us and it is definitely lifting our spirits,” Burke said.

Burke gave no hints as to whether he’d be back next season at Michigan for another chance to win the NCAA title or go into the NBA draft:

“I’m not sure,” said Burke. “I haven’t set a time table – it’s still a decision I have to make.”

Faithful fans like Serena Rabbie came to the arena to welcome home the team.

“It’s incredible, I’ve attended about half of the home games. I can say that throughout the season I didn’t really expect this team to make it this far. And it’s not a bad thing but they really surprised me in the best possible way,” Robbie said.

U of M guard Glenn Robinson, III told the crowd the season was a success.

“These guys sitting down here at the beginning of the year – we had a goal of putting Michigan basketball back on the map,” he said. “I just want to thank all you guys for helping us accomplish that.”

Forward Mitch McGary thanked the crowd for their support.

“It’s a blessing to have such a true fan base, like you guys, to support us each and every day, win or lose,” said McGary. “At the end of the day we are still going to be winners and leaders and the best. Go Blue.”

Michigan basketball’s Spike Albrecht, whose name trended on Twitter alongside his soaring 17-point first half against Louisville, reached for the sky again Tuesday afternoon, apparently trying to soar with the angels — or one angel in particular.

Albrecht Tweeted Kate Upton, Jusin Verlander’s long-rumored squeeze, writing, “hey saw you at the game last night, thanks for coming out! Hope to see you again.”

It’s just short of an official Ryan Gosling-style “Hey girl,” but his intention seems clear.

So, what do you think — Does the freshman have a shot?

@kateupton hey saw you at the game last night, thanks for coming out! Hope to see you again 😉

— spike albrecht (@SpikeAlbrecht) April 9, 2013

Most pundits expected Louisville to be in the national championship game, but no one expected Luke Hancock to play an important role. The Cardinals roster is full of stars, Russ Smith had an excellent tournament before the Final Four, Peyton Siva is a strong point guard and center Gorgui Dieng is a projected first-round draft pick. Luke Hancock was just a sharpshooter off the bench. And then he became the first bench player to ever win the Most Outstanding Player honors in the Final Four.

The junior forward from Roanoke, Virginia was a solid, yet not spectacular, player off the bench this season. He provided some scoring punch at times, knocking down his threes at a 40 percent clip and averaging 8 points per game. His scoring came in waves; five points in one game, 19 the next. He put together a solid streak in the Big East tournament, averaging 11 points per game.

He seemed to lose that momentum early in the tournament. Through the first four games, he shot only 33 percent from 3 and averaged less than 7 points per game. In the Final Four, the sharpshooting Hancock took his game to another level. Against Wichita State, Hancock knocked down three of his five three-pointers and led the Cardinals with 20 points in the 72-68 win. In the National Championship, Hancock made all five of his threes and seven free throws to lead Louisville with 22 points.

His shooting helped pull the Cardinals back into the game after they fell behind by double digits early to Michigan. At one point, he scored 14 straight points for Louisville. Impressively, he managed to play this well while dealing with off-the-court personal struggles of having an ill parent and after witnessing his teammate suffer a gruesome injury in the Elite 8 round.

It’s easy to write off Hancock’s streak as just a player getting hot at the right time but to put in perspective: he is the first bench player in 75 years to earn the Most Outstanding Player honors. He shot 80 percent from beyond the arc in the Final Four and bailed his teammates out of a dangerous hole in the title game.

Louisville’s championship run has plenty of storylines, from their Hall of Fame head coach, to the standout stars and the gruesome injury to Kevin Ware that captivated the country, but it was an oft-overlooked, sharpshooting reserve who stole the stage in the biggest game of all.

Mark Chalifoux is a college basketball contributor for CBS Local Digital Media and can be reached at mark.chalifoux@gmail.com and @markchalifoux on Twitter.

By Andrew Kahn

The preseason No. 2 team finishes 35-5 and wins 16 in a row to close the season, culminating with a national championship. No dominant team in college basketball this year? Maybe not like Kentucky last season, but Louisville is certainly a worthy champion. On Monday, the Cardinals beat Michigan 82-76 for their third title in school history.

Hancock saves Cards, again

In going with the theme of a wild, unpredictable season, Luke Hancock became the first substitute to win the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. After scoring 20 points to save Louisville against Wichita State in the semifinals, Hancock came off the bench in the first half with his team down 12 and drained four straight three-pointers. The junior transfer from George Mason finished 5-for-5 from deep and scored 22.

Spike!

If Hancock’s performance was unexpected, Spike Albrecht’s was downright shocking. With Trey Burke on the bench with two fouls, Albrecht, whose previous career high was 7 points, scored 17 in the first half. He nailed all four of his three-point attempts in the half, including one from several steps beyond the line. Whether Burke should have been on the bench is a different story. He picked up his second foul with 11:09 left in the first half and sat until halftime. Albrecht ended up with 28 minutes to Burke’s 26.

Missing McGary

The emergence of Mitch McGary—his first start came in the Tournament opener—gave Michigan the inside scoring presence it had been lacking all season. He scored in double digits in each of the previous five Tournament games, including two 20+ point efforts. On Monday night, however, he was limited to just 6 points. Like Burke, McGary had to sit with some foul trouble, but he never looked as comfortable as he had in previous Tourney games.

The King of Kentuckys

Rick Pitino became the first coach to win national titles at two schools (he also won at Kentucky in 1996). The championship capped off an unbelievable week for Pitino, who was elected to the Hall of Fame, had a horse qualify for the Kentucky Derby, and saw his son get a Big Ten head coaching job. Next order of business might be a tattoo for the 60-year-old, who was coaxed into promising to get one should Louisville win it all.

Rematch?

Louisville’s loses a critical player, point guard Peyton Siva, and it’s possible that juniors Gorgui Dieng and Russ Smith declare for the NBA draft. If they return, Louisville will be dangerous again. Michigan would certainly be the preseason No. 1 if everybody comes back. None of Michigan’s rotation players are seniors, but sophomore Trey Burke is expected to leave, and Tim Hardaway, Jr., Glenn Robinson III, and even McGary could join him. It will be an anxious time for Michigan fans as the draft deadline approaches.

Andrew Kahn is a contributor to CBS Local who has written for ESPN the Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at AndrewJKahn.com. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

Hundreds streamed onto Cardinal Boulevard after Louisville’s 82-76 victory over Michigan on Monday night, screaming, dancing and lighting off small fireworks in revelry that lasted into the early hours.

The celebration got briefly out of hand as it was winding down, with an attack on a police officer that prompted authorities to send in other officers using riot gear. Students quickly fled the area but several scuffles ensued and bottles were thrown, to which police responded with tear gas. Order was restored about 2:30 a.m. after an armored carrier was brought in.

The citywide party could be repeated Tuesday night if the Cardinals’ women’s team beats Connecticut for the NCAA championship in New Orleans. For now, the area is savoring the Cardinals’ men’s achievement.

“This means everything,” said Connor Millay, 19, a Northern Kentucky University student who traveled to Louisville despite facing two tests Tuesday.

“I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” Millay said. “My dad experienced this. My grandpa experienced this. I needed one of these.”

Elsewhere around town, Cardinals faithful partied in dormitories and around campus, in bars and restaurants and in living rooms after Louisville claimed its third national championship.

Most chose the quiet comforts of home over the noisy crowds that assembled in the Fourth Street Live! entertainment district. But when Louisville emerged victorious at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, emotions were felt everywhere.

“We’ve been waiting for this for the past 27 years,” said Joe Barnes, 61, a University of Louisville alumnus who walked among the thousands of students on Cardinal Boulevard. “This has been one of the best teams that U of L has had. Ever. They’ve showed more spirit, more hustle. They believe in each other.”

Standing ready were a combination of Louisville and campus police and sheriff’s deputies, prepared for large crowds and celebrations that have been commonplace since the Cardinals reached the Final Four and then beat Wichita State in Saturday night’s semifinal.

University spokesman John Drees said more than 5,000 people were estimated to be packed onto Cardinal Boulevard.

“Everybody’s happy,” he said. “Everybody’s celebrating.”

He said police arrested 10 people on charges of drunken and disorderly conduct. Several were injured, two on falls and one with a cut foot.

However, things got out of hand around Cardinal Boulevard and Third Street as the celebration was winding down.

Riot police were called in after an officer was attacked. Students quickly fled the area but several scuffles ensued and bottles were thrown, forcing police to use tear gas. The armored carrier was brought in and order was restored before 2:30 a.m.

The citywide party could be repeated Tuesday night if the Cardinals’ women’s team beats Connecticut for the NCAA championship in New Orleans. For now, the area is savoring the Cardinals’ men’s achievement.

“It’s huge,” said freshman Paul DeNeve. “We have not only won tonight but the women’s team plays tomorrow.”

Including the football team’s Sugar Bowl win over Florida on Jan. 2, he said, “we are arguably one of the nation’s best sports universities right now.”

The men’s championship was a nervous watch for Louisville’s fan base, which saw the Cardinals trail by 12 in the first half before rallying to 38-37 at the break. Louisville eventually went ahead and led by 10 in the second, withstanding Michigan’s attempts to come back.

At halftime, the near-capacity crowd at Cluckers bar was on their feet, leaping in unison after the Cardinals erased that deficit. That boosted confidence in closing the deal on Louisville’s first title in a generation — not to mention, anticipation for how to toast it.

“It’s going to be a party,” said Elliott Benjamin, 21, of Jeffersonville, Ind. “Not like Kentucky (last year). But it’s going to be something.”

Krissy Van Laan and friend Lindsay McDaniel had their spots at the Ri’ Ra’ Irish Pub, staying all the way through and witnessing the mayhem that unfolded immediately afterward.

“Everybody was so excited. It was unbelievable,” Van Laan said. “Once it got down to 4 seconds left, I knew we had it. People were running out in the streets and excited. This is just unbelievable.”

Police officers were stationed in areas where rowdy outdoor celebrations were expected, as they were on Saturday night after Louisville’s win over Wichita State in the national semifinal.

Louisville assistant chief Kenton Bucker said additional police were moved to a two-block area of West Broadway because of fighting and disorderly behavior there this past weekend. There were nine arrests in the area, and crowds stayed out until around 1 a.m.

Buckner said about 200 police officers, sheriff’s deputies, corrections officers and medical staff were working at sites where crowds were likely to gather.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

» More Columns

Luke Hancock’s knack for making big shots was on display well before he transferred to Louisville.

In 2011, Hancock played for George Mason and knocked down a late three-pointer to beat Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The stage was big, but Hancock wanted more.

He craved something bigger.

He finally got it last night.

Trailing by 12 late in the first half against Michigan in the national title game, Hancock single-handedly propelled Louisville back to within striking distance. The stone cold wing knocked down four three-pointers in the first half, and got the Cardinals to within a single point of the Wolverines at half time.

Hancock finished with 22 points and he only took six shots.

Louisville finished with a national championship.

“These are the 13 toughest guys I’ve ever coached,” said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who became the first coach in history to win titles at two different schools.

But the toughest guy of the bunch is Hancock.

Peyton Siva was the heart of this team, but the feisty senior point guard doesn’t have Hancock’s ability to make big shots.

Chane Behanan tallied a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds), and was relentless on the backboards, but he doesn’t have Hancock’s consistency.

The former George Mason wing was named a co-captain for Louisville before he ever played a game for the Cardinals.

He’s a special player that continues to play special in big situations.

The NCAA Tournament is about providing a forum for student athletes to leave a mark.

That’s just what Hancock did over the last two games.

By winning Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four, Hancock now has a seat at the table alongside college basketball royalty.

Pitino has called his crafty wing “Cool Hand Luke.”

After a performance like this, who could really blame him?

Your thoughts on the NCAA title game? Sound off in the comments!

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket) The University of Michigan’s Trey Burke — who took home numerous prestigious playing honors last week, including the AP, Oscar Robertson, Wooden and Naismith awards, took time in the locker room after his team’s NCAA championship loss to heap praise on someone else.

Spike Albrecht, who seemed to come out of nowhere to hit 17 points in the first half of the game against Louisville, earned Burke’s kudos.

“He played his tail off today, he’s a really gutsy player, a guy that can come in and control the tempo, handle the ball and make shots when he’s open,” Burke said. “We expect that out of him. I think a lot of people were shocked, we were a little shocked, but we weren’t as shocked. We’ve seen him make crazy plays in practice. I thought his play would lead into momentum going into the second half, and it did, but they had more momentum.”

Burke praised his team for playing through the bad times this season, getting through adversity and staying positive even after the big loss. The locker room was somber, but calm after the game.

“After the adversity, we grew from it, we all matured, not only as a team, but as people, and it allowed us to grow into one family and get to this point,” Burke said.

What are his plans for next season? “I don’t know really,” Burke said. “It definitely hurts and I haven’t made a decision. It’s a tricky question, I don’t want to say something I would regret, but this loss definitely hurts, we wanted a national championship so bad. We just didn’t get it done.

“Louisville is a really good team and they deserved it.”

He also praised coach John Beilein, saying it’s important that he’ll be able to put a banner in Ann Arbor’s Crisler Arena with “national championship runner-up” on it. “He was doubted about his recruiting, doubted about his ability to coach … He proved all those doubters wrong,” Burke said.

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket) ”Everybody’s down a little,” an obviously emotional Mitch McGary said in the locker room after Michigan’s NCAA championship loss to Louisville.

McGary, whose high-flying play earned praise from the Fab Five’s Jalen Rose, among many others, said his only plan for Tuesday was to “wake up and get back at it.”

But he sidestepped one big question — Will he return to Michigan next season?

“I don’t really know,” McGary said. “I’m not going to answer that question right now.”

Discussing Michigan’s special season led by a roster of young players, McGary said the loss at the end doesn’t shade the whole year, saying, “Just to go through the season and make it this far, to fight through that adversity, is just a tremendous accomplishment for this team.”

He added the coaches told players after the game to keep their heads high. “A lot of the coaches, players said they wish they could have been part of this, going off that, that’s something special when people like Cazzi Russell, the Fab Five are saying that and wishing they could have been part of this,” McGary said.

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket) With a comical Wolverines hat perched on his head, Fab Five member Jalen Rose delivered a message at odds with his jaunty headgear after the Michigan NCAA championship game loss to Louisville Monday.

A somber Rose advised Michigan’s young team to “keep grinding, keep working,” and praised them for “playing through adversity all season.”

“Trey (Burke) really grew up right in front of us and became the national player of the year,” Rose said, going on to praise Tim Hardaway’s toughness and leadership. ‘Those two situations were the catalyst.”

Asked about the legacy this team leaves behind, Rose — who knows a thing or two about leaving a legacy — said, “You create your own legacy, you create your own moments, you create your own situations that you look back on,” and went on to praise individual players for their contributions, including McGary and Albrecht.

On whether he would try to talk any players into sticking around for Michigan’s next season, Rose said, “That’s always a tough call … It’s like family, you support the decision either way.”

On the team’s prospects for next year, he added “There’s a lot to build on.”

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket) His unusual name was trending on Twitter before the half, but after the game it was a subdued Spike Albrecht who talked to the media about the big Michigan NCAA championship game loss to Louisville.

“It hurts a lot, especially when you go this far,” Albrecht said in the locker room after the game, adding, “We came so close, but I can’t thank our seniors enough, they’re the greatest group of guys I’ve ever been around … They sacrificed so much for this team they’re just great teammates and great people.”

Albrecht was the story of the game, scoring 17 points in the first half to come from nowhere as a freshman who wasn’t exactly a highly sought recruit. Albrecht brushed off the heroics of his high-scoring feat, saying he’s not exactly a newcomer anymore.

“We’re not freshmen anymore, we played through the whole Big Ten season,” he said. “Besides Trey and Tim, the freshmen play the majority of the minutes.”

He also thanked the Fab Five for showing up, saying “That unbelievable  we’re so happy that they came.”

Albrecht also gave coach John Beilein credit for recruiting Michigan’s roster of players, and said they had the talent to clinch the championship, but “Louisville’s just a damn good team.”

What’s next for Albrecht? ”Especially for me as a freshman, this is only the beginning,” he said.

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket) There may not be crying in baseball, but there is definitely crying in basketball. The Wolverines’ Nik Stauskas proved that in the locker room after his team’s championship game loss to the Cardinals.

Red-eyed and overcome with emotion, Stauskas said, “Just because we lost this game, we don’t want to hang out heads this low,” Stauskas said. “Obviously this is a tough loss to swallow, but we’re going to move on with it and get better.”

He added he’s going to “work my ass off” this summer to help ensure the team has another great run next year.

Coach John Beilein stayed upbeat after the loss, Stauskas said, adding the coach told them not to get down on themselves.

ANN ARBOR (WWJ) - University of Michigan basketball fans in Ann Arbor took the heartbreaking loss as well as could be expected.

Inside the M Den, the crowd was in high spirits, and just like their home team — fans tried every trick in the book to bring home the title game.

From hat tricks to Hail Marys, students like Thomas Stephenson remained hopeful up until the last seconds that U-M had a fighting chance.

“Trey Burke needs to start heating up, that’s why we’ve got the rally caps on,” he said.

And while the prayers did seem to help bring the score up in the final half, all the spirit fingers in the room weren’t enough to bring home the victory. Louisville rallied from a 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship game Monday night.

Outside, fans began to trickle out and tell their tale of sadness. Student Daniel Cohen said he’s coping, but it’s tough.

“We had a great run, though. I’m not depressed by their effort, they made a great run, I mean, no one expected this, I didn’t expect this,” he said.

The bittersweet ending for some students carried over to the campus’ Diag. Ann Arbor police made three arrests and responded to a handful of furniture fires, but otherwise said it was just a typical night.

For many students, however, it was a night to remember.

“We’re on hunger strike until we win the championship. It’s about the ring, it’s about that championship. We’ve got to get that ‘W,’ you know what I’m saying,” said sophomore Connor Anderson.

MORE: Louisville Beats Michigan 82-76 For NCAA Title

Fans Celebrate Tourney Run, Look Forward To Next Year

A Great Night For Michigan Basketball

Michigan fans were disappointed after the loss to Louisville, but they didn’t take it out on the city. Police said they made three arrests after Michigan’s loss Monday night to Louisville in the NCAA Championship game – two for disorderly conduct and one for drunk driving.

Firefighters battled several small fires during the night – burning box springs, a desk and a small mattress. Notably, crews were called to extinguished a fire in a parking lot on Kinglsley Street near East University and Michigan Avenue. Another fire, involving wooden pallets, was put out quickly by firefighters.

Police said no one was injured, and no arrests have been made in connection with any of the fires.

MORE: Louisville Beats Michigan 82-76 For NCAA Title

Wolverine Fans Praise Team After Loss

Fans Celebrate Tourney Run, Look Forward To Next Year

A Great Night For Michigan Basketball

Luke Hancock produced another huge game off the bench, scoring 22 points, and Pitino became the first coach to win national titles at two schools when relentless Louisville rallied from another 12-point deficit to beat Michigan 82-76 in the NCAA championship game Monday night.

This title came on the same day Pitino was announced as a member of the latest Hall of Fame class, a couple of days after his horse won a big race on the way to the Kentucky Derby, and a few more days after his son got the head coaching job at Minnesota.

This was the best feeling of all. The Cardinals (35-5) lived up to their billing as the top overall seed in the tournament, though they sure had to work for it.

Louisville trailed Wichita State by a dozen in the second half of the national semifinals, before rallying for a 72-68 victory. This time, they fell behind by 12 in the first half, though a stunning spurt at the end of the period wiped out the entire deficit.

“I had the 13 toughest guys I’ve ever coached,” said Pitino, who plans to follow through on a promise he made to his players if they won the title – by getting a tattoo.

No one was tougher than Hancock, named the most outstanding player. He came off the bench to hit four straight 3-pointers after Michigan got a boost from an even more unlikely player.

Freshman Spike Albrecht made four straight from beyond the arc, too, blowing by his career high before the break with 17 points. Coming in, Albrecht was averaging 1.8 points a game and had not scored more than seven all season.

While Albrecht didn’t do much in the second half, Hancock finished what he started for Louisville. He buried another 3 from the corner with 3:20 remaining to give the Cardinals their biggest lead, 76-66.

Michigan wouldn’t go away, but Hancock wrapped it up by making two free throws with 29 seconds left.
While Pitino shrugged off any attempt to make this about him, there was no doubt the Cardinals wanted to win a national title for someone else – injured guard Kevin Ware.

Watching again from his seat at the end of the Louisville bench, his injured right led propped up on a chair, Ware smiled and slapped hands with his teammates as they celebrated in the closing seconds, the victory coming just 30 miles from where he played his high school ball.

Any pain he was feeling from that gruesome injury in the regional final, when he landed awkwardly, snapped his leg and was left writhing on the floor with the bone sticking through the skin, was long gone as he hobbled gingerly onto the court with the aid of crutches, backing in a sea of confetti and streamers.
Louisville again came out wearing Ware’s No. 5 on the back of their warmup jerseys, which said “Ri5e to the Occasion” on the front. When the title belonged to the Cardinals, Ware put on a championship cap and got a big hug from Pitino. Then, they lowered the basket so the injured player could cut a strand out of the net.
This one belonged to him as much as anyone on the court.

“These are my brothers,” Ware said. “They got the job done. I’m so proud of them, so proud of them.”

Peyton Siva added 18 points for the Cardinals, who closed the season on a 16-game winning streak, and Chane Behanan chipped in with 15 points and 12 rebounds as Louisville slowly but surely closed out the Wolverines (31-8).

Michigan was in the title game for the first time since the Fab Five lost the second of two straight championship games in 1993. Players from that team, including Chris Webber, cheered on the latest group of young stars.

But, like the Fab Five, national player of the year Trey Burke and a squad with three freshman starters came up short in the last game of the season.

The first half might’ve been the most entertaining 20 minutes of the entire tournament.

Burke started out on fire for Michigan, hitting his first three shots and scoring seven points to match his output from the semifinal victory over Syracuse, when he made only 1-of-8 shots.
Then, when Burke picked up his second foul and had to go to the bench for the rest of the half, Albrecht took control. The kid whose nickname comes from his first pair of baseball spikes showed he’s a pretty good hoops player, knocking down one 3-pointer after another to send the Wolverines to a double-digit lead.
When Albrecht blew by Tim Henderson with a brilliant hesitation move, Michigan led 33-21 and Louisville was forced to call timeout. The freshman was mobbed on the Michigan bench, like the Wolverines had already won the national title, with one teammate waving a towel in tribute.
Not so fast. Not against Louisville.

The Cardinals kept coming back.

“We just went into war right there with a great Michigan team,” Hancock said. “We needed a rally and we’ve been doing it for a couple of games straight, being down. We just had to wait and make our run.”

Burke, who played only six minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, finished with 24 points and did his best to give Michigan its first championship since 1989. But he couldn’t do it alone. Albrecht was held scoreless after the break, and no one else posted more than 12 points for the Wolverines.
Still, it was quite a run for a fourth-seeded team that knocked off No. 1-seeded Kansas with the greatest comeback of the tournament, rallying from 14 points down in the second half to beat the Jayhawks in the round of the 16.

But they came up against the ultimate comeback team in the final.

“I’ve had a lot of really good teams over the years, and some emotional locker rooms, and that was the most emotional we’ve ever had,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “The team unity we had, the sacrifice we had from five seniors who did not get to play very much, to these young guys buying into the team concept.

“We feel bad about it. There are some things we could have done better and get a win, but at the same time, Louisville is a terrific basketball team. We have not seen that quickness anywhere.”

Louisville had already pulling off a stunning rally in the Big East championship game – down by 16 in the second half, they won by 17 – and another against Wichita State. They surged back again behind their own ace off the bench.

Hancock matched Albrecht from the 3-point stripe. Then, trapping the youngster and knocking the ball away, he set up a fast break that ended with Siva flipping up a lob that Montrezl Harrell slammed through for a dunk, capping a stunning 16-3 run in less than 4 minutes that gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night, 37-36.

Glenn Robinson III made two free throws with two seconds left to give Michigan a 38-37 lead at halftime.
But everyone knew this game was just getting started.
And when it was done, Pitino, Ware and the Cardinals were celebrating in the middle of the mammoth Georgia Dome, assuring the national title will stay in the bluegrass another year.

Last season, it was Kentucky winning it all, the same team that gave Pitino his first title in 1996.
Now, he’s got another one – right down the road in Louisville.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

I’m not sure that any losing team ever made a greater statement in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

History will show that Michigan lost to Louisville 82-76 in the National Championship game in Atlanta. And I highly doubt that John Beilein or Trey Burke or anyone involved with Michigan basketball will take any solace in the fact that they put on a hell of a show against Louisville.

But make no mistake; Monday was a great night for Michigan. I’m not trying to say it was any sort of moral victory. Michigan was good enough to win that game and will look back on plenty of turning points with regret. And I’m certainly not trying to find any silver lining. This team will never get this opportunity again.

But this program might. Because this program is officially back on the map.

If you were a high school kid who wants to play big time college basketball, why wouldn’t you want to go to Michigan now?

Along with Louisville, the Wolverines put on the most entertaining title game in recent memory. The end-to-end action was a reminder of why we all became college basketball fans in the first place. In this day and age of coaching giants who love to put their imprint on every aspect of every game, how much fun is it that two teams went out there and went at it for 40 minutes? Basketball is supposed to be fun. And Michigan basketball is fun again.

But basketball is also about making a name for yourself, and Michigan is once again allowing young players to become stars.

Burke will most likely depart as one of the most decorated players in Michigan history. He won every Player of the Year award imaginable and hit perhaps the most memorable shot in school history against Kansas.

Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glenn Robinson III would be wise to return next year. If they do, they’ll be the stars of another title contender. And if they do, their draft stock should only rise with another year under Beilein.

And Mitch McGary will most likely return for his sophomore year fresh off one of the most impressive tournaments in memory. Four weeks ago, McGary was an unpolished bench player. But today, you’d have to say that he was the MVP for Michigan during their run to the final game.

And even Spike Albrecht made a name for himself with 17 points in the first half. Most of America had never heard of Albrecht when the game started. Midway through the first half, he was trending world-wide on Twitter.

Michigan was a great story. And Michigan was full of great stories. Burke is a transcendent player and some feared that his departure would mean the end of this nice, brief run for Michigan basketball. But I doubt it. Not with Beilein. Not with the tradition that the university holds. And not with the show that Michigan put on throughout this tournament, even in a loss to Louisville.

Players make a program. And players will come to Michigan. Some will want to be the next Trey Burke or the next Mitch McGary. Some will want to take part in one of the most exciting offenses in the nation. And some will want to finish the mission that these players started.

Monday night was a setback and a disappointment. But Monday was also a massive infomercial for what Michigan basketball is and what it will continue to be. And that is a very encouraging development if you’re a Wolverine fan.

What did they think? Robinson seemed to be a bit awestruck, saying, “There are so many legends here” – Charles Woodson – I gave him a high-five,” he said.

He added: “It’s amazing just being here. I’m just standing next to the Fab Five so I’m happy. … and these guys are playing great basketball. It’s a part of tradition, it’s a part of our school.”

Rose noted that the big audience is a great opportunity to celebrate the U of M program.

“You know the world is watching,” said former Fab Five player Jalen Rose. “It’s a big stage for Michigan basketball, I know we very prestigious and tradition runs high – we’ve been in the Final Four seven times. So, it’s not like it happens every year.”

Rose was just 20 years old when he played in the NCAA’s title game, and he said it was a terrific celebration getting back together with former Fab Fivers.

And then he seemed to claim the Fab Five of the 1990s spurred the current team’s success, saying their recent ESPN documentary snowballed into the team getting some great new players. The documentary focused on the play and rock star quality of the fabulous five, who were recruited into the University of Michigan class of 1991, widely considered the greatest class ever recruited.

“All four of us were together when we did the Fab Five documentary – March of 2011 – and we felt like it created a positive snowball for the program,” Rose said. “Whether 1 percent or 99 percent, all I know that in 2012, we got Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson and Stan(Spike) Albrecht, right? And Nik Stauskas, and in 2013 we are in the championship game – so poetic justice,” said Rose.

Echoing the thoughts of Steve Kerr, he said it was a “great match-up” between the Cardinals and Michigan, going so far as to say it was “the best match-up we could ask for.”

“The other night I don’t think that either team played that well the first half- second half they did and it was close and competitive, and that made it fun,” Nessler said. “I think these back courts are going to play way better than they did the other night and with that I think we are going to have higher scoring game – it just looks statistically … each team is going to put about 75 up … I don’t care which way it is.”

Talking about the contribution of Mitch McGary throughout the season, he said:

“He was unbelievable the other night … when he lead the break one time on the dribble – a no look pass with his tongue hanging out and at that time I said to Dick (Vitale) he’s just matched his career high in assists and he got four more after that,” Nessler said. “So, he’s a great passer and in the high post he’s the reason they were able to deal with that 2-3 zone -tonight he might be even more dangerous.”

Pre-game there was talk that the Fab Five would show up in support of this title seeking U of M team – is that a distraction or more encouragement?

“I think it would be a good thing … I kind of forgot about all the problems they had – they erased that from the record books,” recalled Nessler. “I still think of those guys as the team that got there and just didn’t quite win.”

You may also recognize Nessler’s voice from EA Sports’ NCAA March Madness video games.

Legendary Georgetown coach John Thompson added his thoughts on the two teams pre-game – “I think it’s really unpredictable,” said Thompson. “And that’s the way you’d want a championship game. In the past, there is usually a dominant team … and everyone will hop on it – they tend to do that with Louisville, because of Louisville’s pressure, but I’m not certain that the pressure will bother Michigan as much as it did in the later stages of the game against Syracuse.”

Steve Kerr with Turner Sports told 97.1 The Ticket’s Dan Leach, “Best defense in the country against the best offense – it’s strength on strength the two teams playing at a really high level – this is about the best match-up we could have hoped for.”

“If you’re an unbiased college basketball observer – if your school is already out – this is what you want to see. Great players, great coaches and teams that really function well together. I think it’s a toss up, it could go either way,” he said. “It’s going to be fun to watch.”

Check back for more on Kerr’s insights on Trey Burke and the Michigan match-up against Louisville.

Five time NBA champion Kerr – won three straight titles with the Chicago Bulls and two with the San Antonio Spurs.

Previously President of Basketball Operation and GM for the Phoenis Suns – Kerr cut ties with the team in 2010 announcing his retirement.

“It’s a great school anyway – academically, athletically — but anytime you’re a national champ that puts you in a special category — It should be a great, great game,” Vitale said

So, who does the longtime sportscaster and former Pistons coach think will win?

“I think the game’s going to come down to two match-ups — (Peyton) Siva vs. (Trey) Burke and inside (Gorgui) Dieng vs. (Mitch) McGary,” Vitale said. “McGary’s been absolutely phenomenal.”

Vitale added he doesn’t think the Fab Five potentially sitting in the stands for the big game can take anything away from the players.

“Everybody realizes these kids … have done a phenomenal job to get here, that’s all a separate entity,” Vitale said.

Snyder earned three degrees from the University of Michigan by age 23 and is a long-time season ticket holder to men’s basketball games. He says it’s “very exciting” to go to the title game Monday night and he hopes the Michigan-Louisville match-up is a good one.

Snyder and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear wagered bourbon and cherry pie on the game.

Beshear is offering seven bottles of bourbon if Michigan wins. They include Maker’s Mark, Jim Bean Black and Wild Turkey 101. Snyder is putting up “the world’s best cherry pie” made with Michigan cherries should Louisville prevail.

Democrat Beshear said he’s confident the Cardinals’ quickness, defense and grit will overwhelm Michigan.

Snydersaid he can’t wait to see the Wolverines cut down the nets. He said he doesn’t “plan to be baking any pies.”

 Hear the game beginning at 9 p.m. on 97.1 The Ticket or watch live on CBS 62.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

Vegas says Louisville will win by four. It’s familiar territory for this young Michigan team; they’ve been the underdog since late in the regular season. Many people looked at South Dakota State as a possible Cinderella story; Shaka Smart’s VCU was going to roll over the maize and blue. Then Kansas was the impossible opponent, then the Gators were going knock them out. National media carried on about the Syracuse zone like they were 1985 Bears and gave Michigan little chance, a seeming foregone conclusion that Michigan’s offensive firepower would be smothered under a blanket of stifling defense. 

Michigan wasn’t always the underdog. Through the early months of the regular season, the Wolverines looked like they could be built for a deep run in the tournament. The schedule was helpful, they faced tomato soup cans for the first two months of the season. They hung 100 points on Slippery Rock, 88 on CMU, 94 on Northwestern, 95 on Iowa. They looked unstoppable at times but many said the same thing: They haven’t played anyone yet.

The first stiff competition came in Columbus on January 13th, when the Buckeyes brought them the season’s first loss. It was only a preview, because the last two months of the season were far less kind. They lost to Indiana and Wisconsin before they went into the Breslin Center, where MSU dismantled them. The twenty point margin in the final score doesn’t really give an accurate impression of what a beating occurred on prime time national television. The game wasn’t close and sent even the most ardent Wolverine supporters into the corner to lick their wounds.

Then they lost to Penn State, a team that didn’t have a win in the Big Ten yet.

When the season is later examined, there will be some debate about where the season reached its low point, either in East Lansing or Happy Valley. You might also point to the heartbreaking loss at home to Indiana. Either way, they were all horribly humbling humiliations for a team that was once ranked number one in the nation. They looked lost and John Beilein looked ill equipped to help them find their way.  Some people said that Beilein could be on the hot seat.

The Big Ten tournament didn’t offer any hope either, they were bounced by Wisconsin. Everything, especially when they drew South Dakota State in the first round of the tourney, looked like a repeat of last year when they were bounced in the first round by Ohio. Those who were still rooting for the Wolverines, and there were very few at that point, braced for the worst case scenario.

Michigan spent an entire month getting in their own way. They lost in especially embarrassing fashion many times. They absolutely limped into the tournament, not looking at all like the team who beat up on all those aforementioned soup cans early in the season. They looked like the same team who took all those dumb shots last year, throwing prayers from the three-line.

Then in the first round of the tournament, Mitch McGary woke up. They moved the ball better than they ever had during the season, they showed patience to wait for the open look. Burke was suddenly just as likely to send a pass to the low post; they looked like they could play physical near the basket. They certainly picked a good time to exercise all their earlier problems on the post.

Vegas is taking Louisville. Blue finds themselves in a very familiar position, maybe the best one for them. For the first two months, Michigan looked at as the dominant team in the most dominant conference. Then February happened. They’ve been climbing out of the pit since then. In almost every game of the tournament, they’ve been the underdog.

It sounds like they may have the Cardinals right where they want them.

The Wolverines can win the championship tonight. How can I be so sure, you may ask? It’s simple: They seem to have momentum on their side. Of course, momentum can be a bit of a misnomer at this point in the tournament, because the only way to arrive here is to be on a winning streak. It’s when you examine the wins themselves that you might be able to reliably forecast the outcome of the final game.

Louisville was expected to sleepwalk through their game on Saturday, Wichita State wasn’t given much of a chance against the last remaining number one seed. Louisville coach Rick Pitino is considered college basketball royalty, so his team is given a great deal of deference at times. Some of us think that the Cardinals are unbeatable because that’s how the NCAA brackets usually work. There are upsets and buzzer beaters but there is usually one team that rules them all in almost casual precision. Last year, it was Kentucky that dismantled teams with sleepy eyed ease. When the Final Four was in Ford Field, UNC destroyed MSU in a way not normally seen outside of when Alabama plays football.

That didn’t happen with the early game of the Final Four. Louisville looked beatable in a game that was supposed to be a night off. While Louisville rallied and eventually won the game, they looked human in the process and they had to dig deep to get the win. They had to exert energy to win instead of resting their starters after a sufficient lead was achieved, like most teams of destiny usually seem to do.

That’s not to say that Michigan’s game against Syracuse was a lay-up either, but the Orange were supposed to win. Reams of ink painted Jim Boeheim’s team as a juggernaut of tenacious D, many thought that the young Wolverines would find themselves on the losing end of the “defense wins championships” law. They didn’t. Just like the Kansas game, and to a lesser degree the games against VCU and Florida, Michigan won against conventional wisdom. They emerged with a Louie Anderson sized chip on their shoulder and the confidence that they can beat anybody.

The Michigan fan base probably already felt the season’s end approach once this March; the team looked dead to rights against Kansas. The team that eventually wins the tournament, without a sure bet, is a team that feels like it’s living on borrowed time. Of the two teams that remain, that team seems to be Michigan. They saved their best games for the very end, with Mitch McGary emerging in a way that probably couldn’t have been imagined even a few weeks ago. A few weeks ago it was a settled fact that if Trey Burke had a bad game Michigan would lose. Trey Burke has had a few games this March where he only scored in single digits, but the Wolverines have still emerged victorious. If Caris LeVert is going to step up, it’s hard to bet against Blue.

Again, both teams have won the same amount of tourney games to get to this point but Louisville almost got shocked by a supposed lesser team. Even though Vegas says the Cardinals are the favorite, Michigan looks like the team of destiny in the championship game tonight.

By Andrew Kahn

Tonight, the No. 1 overall seed takes on a team once ranked No. 1 and now playing its best basketball. On one side is Louisville, the favorite when the field was announced, trying to keep the national championship trophy in the state of Kentucky. On the other is Michigan, riding a crop of underclassmen that rival the Fab Five. Louisville’s men will vie for the title on Monday night, and the women play in the title game on Tuesday.

Cards find a way

Peyton Siva was the preseason Big East Player of the Year, but has been inconsistent all season. Louisville has found ways to win when its point guard doesn’t play well. They beat Oregon in the Sweet 16 despite Siva tallying as many turnovers as points (four). He went 1-for-9 against Wichita but the Cards won again, 72-68, to reach the title game. A question Louisville fans would rather not see answered: Can Louisville beat Michigan if Siva struggles? He doesn’t need to outplay Trey Burke, but he can’t disappear either.

Reserves shine for Wolverines

Back-up point guard Spike Albrecht may have played the most impactful four minutes of the college basketball season on Saturday night. He nailed two contested three-pointers—one from outside the Georgia Dome—in the first half and helped Michigan handle Syracuse’s full-court press in the final minutes. Caris LeVert had played 15 minutes all tournament before logging 21 minutes against Syracuse. He hit 3 of his 4 shots (including two threes), grabbed four rebounds, and played solid defense in Michigan’s 61-56 win. Both Albrecht and LeVert are freshmen.

Shockers can’t withstand run

Wichita was able to hold off Ohio State’s furious rally in the final minutes of the regional final. Such was not the case on Saturday, as the Shockers lost their 12-point lead over the final 13 minutes and lost 72-68. Wichita’s hot three-point shooting went cold (6 for 20) and two Louisville reserves—Luke Hancock and Tim Henderson—drained huge threes during the run. A controversial jump-ball call that gave possession to Louisville in the final seconds didn’t help. While many of the high-profile jobs have already been filled, there is still speculation that Gregg Marshall may land somewhere else after this magical run.

Orange offense stalls

Fifteen seconds left, Syracuse down three. Brandon Triche had just fouled out, joining fellow backcourt starter Michael Carter-Williams on the bench. Who would Jim Boeheim turn to for a bucket? After a timeout, freshman reserve Trevor Cooney attempted a low-percentage shot that was rebounded by Michigan. Game over. The Orange overcame subpar offensive performances against California and Indiana, but couldn’t against Michigan. Due to graduation and potential early departures, offense will once again be a question mark for ’Cuse next year in the ACC.

Title game preview

Louisville opens as a small favorite against the young Wolverines. Louisville’s depth is definitely a concern; the fact that Tim Henderson was counted on to make baskets against Wichita is telling. While the Cardinals don’t rely on turnovers as much as VCU, a team Michigan dominated in the second round, they still like to play fast and turn defense into offense. Michigan protects the ball better than any team in the country. Power forward Chane Behanan is a tough matchup for most teams, but Glenn Robinson III is especially vulnerable in the paint. How he holds up will be a key to the game. Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng is taller than Mitch McGary, but McGary is stronger and playing with a lot of confidence. If he can get Dieng in foul trouble, it would open up more driving lanes for Michigan.

Andrew Kahn is a contributor to CBS Local who has written for ESPN the Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. He writes about college basketball and other sports at
http://andrewjkahn.com
. Email him at andrewjkahn@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @AndrewKahn.

The Wolverines celebrated their first championship game in 20 years, but it was still clouded by their name. The Fab Five were mentioned in hushed tones, the legendary freshmen and sophomores who last took the maize and blue to the final game.

The cheering had barely stopped after Michigan’s victory in the Final Four before the call came out from many in the media for them to appear, but I think we should leave them out of this. The Fab Five had their run and it’s time to leave that legacy behind. They were transcendent figures in the culture for a moment, their moment, but we do no favors to these young Wolverines by staining their name with a team that was riddled with such scandal. If the Fab Five want to repair their legacy they should stay far away from the Georgia Dome on Monday night, because this is not about them.

We all were swept up back then, many of us had No. 4 maize jerseys and some of us paid extra to have Webber’s last name stenciled on the back. When they were Wolverines they were kings, their tournament runs were watched by all of us in an area where college basketball isn’t nearly as popular as other sports.
The Fab Five is a fond memory, even given all the problems with their legacy.

The banners were removed, Chris Webber was indicted, we all learned Ed Martin’s name and we realized we had been duped. It made sense in retrospect, how else would all of the best freshmen in the country just decide to go to your school without some other incentive hiding in the shadows? The Fab Five owe the area nothing, we still have those memories even though the banners were removed. The scandal isn’t why they should avoid the national championship game.

The Fab Five had their time. If they reassemble in Atlanta later today it will immediately be all about them and not the team already assembled on the floor, in the midst of their own possible championship run. They will steal a spotlight that they don’t deserve. When they walked away the program was in irreparable shambles, why do we want to invite them to the party now that everything has been cleaned? Why should they be able to stand on the shoulders of this team, who we assume was assembled without the malfeasance and grand jury deceptions? The current team should stand alone in their shining moment, without the reflected glow of the ruin the Fab Five brought the University.

When Jalen Rose even suggested that Webber attend the championship game, he stole a piece of something he didn’t earn. The conversation immediately turned to the past, along with the controversy associated with it. Rather than spend even one minute discussing the team whose banners and record were vacated under the poisonous haze of the Ed Martin scandal, lets celebrate the new kids who have absolutely earned our admiration.

If Michigan wins this game, the legacy of the Fab Five will be largely erased. For all praise heaped on them, they never won the tournament. They made it to the final game and lost to teams from North Carolina on both occasions. There will be no reason to remember the five freshman whose off the court actions led to scandal.

It’s time to put away the Fab Five and celebrate the fact that after twenty years the program has finally fully recovered from the damage they did. It’s probably harsh to place all the blame on the players themselves when there were so many who were responsible for that scandal but they were complicit in its execution. Everyone involved in that scandal deserves scorn.

The new team provides a clean break from the past, take the opportunity and stop reliving the past.

» >More Columns

The season that none of us could predict is set to give us a title game that none of us will forget.

In a year where college basketball was dominated by unpredictability, two high-level schools — Louisville and Michigan, led by two high-level coaches in Rick Pitino and John Beilein – are set to give us a battle tonight that should be everything that everyone who follows the sport deserves.

Pitino is in many ways the standard in the coaching profession.

He took Providence to the Final Four in 1987. He made Kentucky a dominant force in the 1990s before heading to the NBA. And now, in his third trip to the Final Four at Louisville, he’s chasing the one thing that’s eluded him since he returned to college coaching — a national championship.

Beilein meanwhile, is a throwback. This is a man that’s never been an assistant, and is still known as a guy who cuts in his own grass. He’s a coach’s coach, and maybe that’s why so many people have such an affinity for him.

Beilein has reached the pinnacle of his profession by doing the only thing he knows — grinding.

He won at Canisius, and then Richmond, before making his mark nationally at West Virginia. When Michigan called, Beilein didn’t even look at the campus before accepting the job.

Now, he’s going against Pitino for the sport’s richest prize.

Louisville has been the best team in college basketball for the majority of the season, but the tragic loss of reserve guard Kevin Ware, who suffered a gruesome leg injury against Duke, affects the Cardinals’ perimeter depth.

Will Michigan benefit?

No question.

The Wolverines have the best back court in college basketball in Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., while burly big man Mitch McGary has blossomed into a burgeoning prospect.

Louisville is the the team that was expected to be here. Michigan is the team that destiny put here.

Down 12 in the Sweet 16 against Kansas, the Wolverines got a deep three from Burke to tie the game late in regulation and send it to overtime. Ever since then Michigan has been like a runaway train.

Is Louisville the team to slow it down?

We can’t wait to find out.

TALE OF THE TAPE

LOUISVILLE

Record: 34-5

Coach: Rick Pitino

Starting Five: Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, Wayne Blackshear, Chane Behanan, Gorgui Dieng

Top Reserve: Luke Hancock

Strength: Front court depth

Weakness: Half court offense

MICHIGAN

Record: 31-7

Coach: John Beilein

Starting Five: Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., Nik Stauskas, Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary

Top Reserve: Jordan Morgan

Strength: Outside shooting

Weakness: Front court depth

PREDICTION: LOUISVILLE 71, MICHIGAN 67

Who do you have in Monday night’s title game? Make your prediction in the comments!

Speaking live on WWJ Newsradio 950, Jimmy King, a point guard from the 1992 and 1993 teams, said at least four of them will be together in the stands at the  Georgia Dome.

“I’ve talked to my other fab teammates — Jaylan [Rose], Juwan [Howard] and Ray [Jackson] will be there,” said King. “I have not talked to Chris [Webber], but we have reached out to him and we hope that he will show up as well.”

Webber, who lives in Atlanta, is still banned from the U-M program until next month as a part of the school’s sanctions stemming from the Ed Martin scandal.

“There’s only been one other time that we’ve been together — in 2003, that was the last time all five of us [were] together,” said King. “But the five of us together in this atmosphere hasn’t happened in 20 years, in New Orleans. So it would be a great feeling.”

Offering some advice to the current Wolverines, King said the best thing they can do at this point is try to relax.

“Be yourselves; enjoy this moment — it’s a once in a lifetime thing. Go about your business as usual; do not change your routine,” said King. “The only difference between now and the rest of the season is that there’s only two teams standing.”

 Hear the game beginning at 9 p.m. on 97.1 The Ticket or watch live on CBS 62.

Stop me if you heard this one before.

The year was 2001, Michigan basketball finally made the right decision and parted ways with Brian Ellerbe — and a man that could have saved the program was out there. In fact, that man had already told Bill Martin, the athletic director at the time, that he would take the job in Ann Arbor.  Of course this mystery man’s wife had other ideas and demanded him to coach at Louisville instead, and the rest is history as they say.

Of course that man is Rick Pitino and of course he eventually cheated on the wife who forced him to stay in the great state of Kentucky, but you already knew that, as well.

Anyway…

Later tonight, Pitino will coach his Louisville Cardinals against Michigan, which finally after 20 seasons is back in the championship game.  Pitino is trying to become the first coach ever to win a national title with two schools (he won with Kentucky in 1996) while John Beilein is trying to do something that nobody thought was ever possible, bring Michigan basketball back to not only respectability, but greatness. I still can’t believe it as I sit here typing this blog.

Now, I have stated this before, but because of the circumstances, let me repeat myself.  Every guy has that girl who got away, that girl that they still think about no matter how old they are and wonder “what if”? Well, as strange as this sounds, Pitino, to me is the coach who got away.  I remember 2001.  I listened to the radio the entire day hoping to get word that Pitino was choosing Michigan.

I remember what I was driving, where I was driving to and even what I was wearing. I didn’t look as good as Pitino does in one of those $7,000 Armani suits, but I held my own.  I remember hearing Dick Vitale come on one of the shows that I was listening to and report that Pitino was headed to Michigan.  I was elated!  I was shocked!  I knew the program had been saved!

Well, it wasn’t even 15 minutes later when Vitale came back on the same show and reported that Pitino was out at Michigan, instead he was heading to Louisville.  I was heartbroken. I actually felt like my girlfriend at the time had broken up with me.  Hell, I would have broken up with her if it meant that Michigan would have landed Pitino.  I know it sounds pathetic, but what do you want from me?  I was like 23.

So there I was, all alone and the program that I rooted so hard for was forced to exercise Plan B, which was to hire Tommy Amaker.

With Amaker at the helm, things didn’t get better. Sure, Coach K’s protege had some decent recruits like Daniel Horton, Lester Abram, Brent Petway, Dion Harris and even Manny Harris but they never could win.  In Amaker’s 6 years on the job he tore up the NIT tournament but never made it to the NCAA tournament.  It was awful!  After the Fab Five got busted for cheating, along with Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor, Louis Bullock and others, I watched year after year of garbage hoops and Amaker could not make it any better.  I am prepared to go over the numerous names that I’m sure everybody has blocked out of their minds, but why bother?  It’s just too damn depressing,

After Amaker was fired, Michigan went out and hired Beilein and all I knew about him was he ran a whacking 1-3-1 zone at times and he coached one West Virginia team that ended up going to the Elite 8.  Ironically enough, the only guy he ever sent to the NBA played on that team, Kevin Pitsnogle who to this day is always brought up when Beilein and the Mountaineers are talked about.

Beilein has done a great job at Michigan.  We all know what he has accomplished.  He got much needed facilities, he was able to recruit better athletes and he consistently, at least lately has made the NCAA tournament.  All is now good, at least for the time being and now he is about to coach in the National Title game.  It really is a job well done!

But what about Pitino?

It seems like I should not care anymore that he went to Louisville and never came to Michigan.  But I do.

Pitino took over for a Louisville legend in Denny Crum who struggled to make the tournament or get out of the first round in his last four years on the job.  Since Pitino has been there, Louisville has made the tournament 10 of 12 seasons while going to 3 Final Fours and 2 Elite Eights. He and his program have been great.  And, why wouldn’t they be?  Pitino is a hall of famer who has taken three schools to Final Fours and now as I mentioned earlier, could be the first ever coach to win a title with two different schools.

He would have done the same at Michigan, I’m convinced of that.

So when I was asked just yesterday if I still wanted Pitino in Ann Arbor instead of Beilein,  I answered with a resounding YES.

My reasoning seems logical, at least I think it does.  While the present is great, I find it hard to forget about the past and keep from wondering “what could have been?”  If Pitino would have chosen Michigan, I am certain the last 12 years of my college basketball-watching life would have been a lot more exciting and one night, even if it results in a championship banner, will not make up for that.

Or will it?

Michigan certainly will have their work cut out for them Monday night at 9:23 p.m. on CBS 62 and 950 WWJ  when they battle Louisville for the NCAA championship. The Wolverines are four point underdogs and I understand why. The top seeded Cardinals have a relentless pressure defense that is similar to the VCU havoc that Michigan destroyed in round 2. But, Louisville’s players are better and more athletic than VCU’s.

Offensively they have more weapons than Syracuse had Saturday night. Peyton Siva and Russ Smith are outstanding despite shooting a combined 7-26 in the national semifinal. The guy who may give the Wolverines the biggest problem is Gorgui Dieng. The 6’11” junior from the Senegal averages close to 10 points a game, but its his 9.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks that could be deadly for Michigan.

The Wolverines are on a roll. They were able to win Saturday night despite poor shooting from their stars as Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr combined for a subpar 5-24.  Mitch McGary has been the stud for the Wolverines and not just with his scoring. The freshman displayed a deft passing touch and the ability to not only rebound but keep possessions by tapping the ball out to teammates on missed shots.

The teams are coming off similar semifinals,besides the poor shooting from their top duos. Both Louisville and Michigan received tremendous contributions from their benches. Luke Hancock and Tim Henderson for Louisville were key for the Cardinals while Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht came up huge for Michigan.

So who is going to win it all? I have to admit I have been wrong about Michigan. I thought they would lose to VCU,Kansas,and Florida. I did think they would beat Syracuse, but I have doubted them all season. I think this one goes down to the wire, but I am going to pick Louisville for one reason. They seem to be a tad better than Michigan at finishing out games. Louisville 72 Michigan 68,but don’t worry Michigan fans,that is probably good news for you.

There’s a watch party at Crisler Center and it’s free for all Michigan students, faculty and staff with your M-card. It’s $5.00 for the public, with proceeds going to the Athletic Department Scholarship Fund. The doors open at 7:30 with concessions, interactive displays and giveaways during timeouts.

Anyone on or around campus will notice a bigger police presence on campus tonight. That’s according to Campus Police Spokesperson Diane Brown.

“We expect that people will be respectful of other people and of property,” Brown said. “We expect that folks can celebrate without interfering with other people.”

Ann Arbor Police will have more police on patrol as well.

You can hear tonight’s NCAA championship game on WWJ Newsradio 950, with the pre-game starting at 8:30.

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket/AP) – The Michigan Wolverines held on to beat the Syracuse Orange 61-56 in the NCAA Men’s Final Four Semifinal game on Saturday.

As heard on the Wolverine flagship station WWJ Newsradio 950 - The Wolverines got help deep in their bench to overcome the Syracuse Orange zone defense and advance to the national championship game.

Now, don’t call these guys the Fab Five.

Michigan’s latest group of young stars is determined to leave its own legacy.

Attacking Syracuse’s suffocating zone defense in the first half with 3-pointers, crisp passing and a fearless attitude, the Wolverines made their statement on the court in Atlanta.

Michigan (31-7) will be going for its first national title since 1989 when it faces Louisville on Monday at the Georgia Dome. Syracuse (30-10) failed to complete an all-Big East final in the fabled league’s last season before breaking up.

The Wolverines got sloppy in the second half and barely hung on at the end, winning despite a tough night for Associated Press player of the year Trey Burke. He scored only seven points.

Louisville was established as a 4 1/2-point title game favorite.

Don’t expect that to bother the brash young Wolverines a bit.

Even though the Wolverines got sloppy in the second half they hung on at the end, winning despite a tough night for Associated Press player of the year Trey Burke. He scored only seven points.

Trailing 58-56, the Orange had a chance to force overtime. But Brandon Triche was called for a foul when Jordan Morgan stepped in to take the charge with 19.2 seconds left.

“Jordan is our best charge-taker,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “He stood in there and took a good one.”

After Jon Horford made only one of two free throws, Syracuse called timeout and set up a play. Curiously, the Orange didn’t attempt a tying 3-pointer. Instead, Trevor Cooney drove the lane looking to put up an easier shot. But the ball was swatted away, Michigan saved it from going out of bounds and Morgan wound up taking a long pass the other way.

He threw down a thunderous slam with just over a second remaining to cap the triumph.

Triche blamed himself for driving the ball recklessly into the lane when Syracuse had a chance to tie it.

“I was just trying to make a play for the team,” he said. “I probably should have made a better decision, probably should have pulled up for the jump shot. … I did see him, but I figured, I was already in the air jumping.”

With Burke struggling (he made only one shot from the field all night), Michigan got an unexpected contribution off the bench from freshmen Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht.

LeVert scored eight points and Albrecht chipped in with six – all of them crucial after the Wolverines went cold in the second half and struggled to put away the Orange. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Wolverines with 13 points.

“We had a lot of guys in there,” Beilein said. “You never know who the outlier is, you never know who’s going to come in and get that done. We’ve been a team all year. It was great.”

Of course, there’s nothing unusual about Michigan getting big performances from first-year players. This team starts three freshmen — Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary and Nik Stauskas — which, of course, rekindles memories of the great Fab Five teams of the early 1990s.

These kids want nothing to do with the comparisons, saying they haven’t done nearly enough to be mentioned in the same breath with a team that changed the face of college basketball.

Well, if the Wolverines can win their next game, they’ll accomplish something that eluded the Fab Five: a national title.

Syracuse was looking to give 68-year-old Jim Boeheim another title, a decade after the Orange won it all in their last trip to the Final Four. Boeheim has no plans to retire, but his quest for a championship is on hold for another year.

“I told you I’m not going to answer that question unless you ask that of every coach,” Boeheim snapped at a reporter when asked about his future. “I never indicated at any time that I’m not coming back.”

Michigan won this game in the opening 20 minutes, doing exactly what it needed to do against Syracuse’s suffocating 2-3 zone: knock down open 3s, crash the boards, and work the ball inside and out with rapid-fire passes.

“I thought we got off to a really bad start defensively in the first half,” Boeheim said. “We just didn’t have the movement that we’ve had, and Michigan took advantage of it. Our offense was not good in the first half or the second half. Second half, we got our defense going a lot better, and got back in the game in spite of our offense.”

When Syracuse started extending its perimeter defense, looking to cut off the long-range shots, Michigan created an open look late in the half with a nifty bit of ball movement. Glenn Robinson III took a pass, whipped it ball to LeVert, who dribbled a couple of times and fed the ball back to Robinson for an open 15-footer.

Nothing but net.

The Wolverines began to pull away from Syracuse even though Burke was struggling. He finally scored his first points with just under a minute remaining in the first half, swishing a 3 from nearly the same spot on the court where he made the long shot that stunned top-seeded Kansas.

It would be Burke’s only basket of the night.

“We shot well from 3, and I mean deep,” Beilein said coming off the court at halftime. “It’s tough to penetrate against them. We had some success, but we made some really good shots.”

Even though Hardaway missed a trey just before the buzzer sounded, Michigan sprinted off the court with a commanding 36-25 lead. Syracuse didn’t have enough offensive firepower to come all the way back, shooting just 42 percent (23 of 55).

C.J. Fair scored 22 points, doing his best to rally the Orange all by himself. But Triche, with 11 points, was the only other Syracuse player in double figures.

With Michigan’s starters also struggling, the guys off the bench picked up the slack.

LeVert, who seemed headed for a redshirt early in the season and was known more for defense than offense, made a couple of 3-pointers in the opening half. He had connected just 11 times from that range coming into the Final Four.

Albrecht was another surprise. He, too, buried a couple of shots beyond the arc — one of them going through from the corner while he was sliding on his backside toward the Syracuse bench. Coming into Atlanta, he had made only a dozen 3-pointers the entire season.

There’s still another game to go.

“It’s going to be a great matchup,” said McGary, one of those Michigan freshmen. “They’re a team like Syracuse that also plays in Big East and they remind me of VCU the way they trap and can turn over the ball, so it should be a great matchup.”

The Wolverines routed VCU 78-53 in the second round of the tournament.

If they can win one more time, they’ll have bragging rights on the Fab Five.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

As the final buzzer sounded, a Louisville player tossed the ball high into the air and injured Kevin Ware stood up, thrusting his arms above his head.

It was the 15th straight victory for the top-seeded Cardinals (34-5), who will play the winner of Syracuse-Michigan for the national title Monday night. It is the Cardinals’ first trip to the title game since they won it all in 1986.

Russ Smith led the Cardinals with 21 points, and Chane Behanan added 10.

Cleanthony Early had 24 for the ninth-seeded Shockers (30-9), who nearly pulled off their biggest upset of all. Wichita State had knocked off No. 1 seed Gonzaga and Ohio State on its way to its first Final Four since 1965, and it had a 12-point lead on the Cardinals with 13:35 to play. It was the largest deficit all tournament for the Cardinals, who seemed out of sorts with Ware on the bench, his broken right leg propped up on a chair.

CATCH MORE GAME STORY AT CBSSPORTS.COM

By: Evan Jankens

ATLANTA- Michigan took out Shaka Smart’s VCU team in the NCAA tournament but that doesn’t mean he’ll root for Michigan.

“Not necessarily I’m just a fan of basketball,” Smart said. “When we get eliminated there are a few days where you depress and you don’t want anything to do with it but you get back to watching the tournament. It’s an unbelievable spectacle here with thousands and thousands of people and would love to see the best teams win.”

Smart believes that Mitch McGary could be the key to the Wolverines success against Syracuse. “Trey Burke is doing a terrific job distributing, finding Robinson finding Stauskas, finding Hardaway Jr., and I think Mitch McGary might be the biggest key, he’s playing terrific basketball. Coach Beilein has him playing at a high level.”

Smart thinks that McGary has done a great job with building confidence throughout the season.

“Well he’s a freshman so freshmen keep getting better and this is what you want to see from your freshmen at the end of the year. He’s now been able to compile college experience that he did not have earlier in the year, even in the middle of the year and I think he’s using that along with the confidence given to him by his coaching staff. And he’s going out and playing great,” he said.

In order for Michigan to win they have to beat the zone of the Syracuse Orange and Smart thinks that’s possible.

“Well they have great length and I think the missed perception is that their gonna give up an open three-point shot but their zone is designed to contest outside shots with their length they have terrific size across the board what Michigan need to do is get in the lane first either in the pass or the dribble and then find their shooters and they’ll get some great looks,” Smart said.

Catch up on all things Final Four – HERE.

ATLANTA (97.1 The Ticket) – Blood is thicker than water and good will doesn’t mean you cheer on a rival even in your own Big Ten conference.

Dan Leach and Evan Jankens of 97.1 The Ticket caught up with Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo before the Michigan – Syracuse game Saturday night in Atlanta.

Although the season didn’t end the way the Spartan coach wanted Izzo was asked what strengths would be taken out of the season which brought his team into the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament.

“I thought we had a great year … you always want to win that last game so you are never happy especially when you’ve been here before and you realize how exciting it is, how awesome it is … you always want your kids to get a chance to do that,” said Izzo.

“At the same time considering the injuries we had a good team – only one senior in Derrick Nix we had a couple of guys a young freshman; Harris really played well, Appling and Payne really elevated their game.”

“You never know, man, next year, who knows?” he smiled.

Izzo talked exclusively to The Ticket about the game between Michigan and Syracuse …

“We played against Syracuse a few times – not the same personnel but the same zone and Jim does a great job with them – it just seems like it was three weeks ago everyone was asking ‘What’s wrong with Syracuse?’ … Four weeks ago they were asking the same thing about Michigan. Lost 6 out of their last 12 – so you never know how these things go but I think sometimes you may worry about the zone too much and it becomes an enemy in itself.”

“I don’t think Michigan will do that – they’ve got the shooters to handle that – it’s going to be an interesting game because Michigan doesn’t turn the ball over much and I think Syracuse needs turnovers to score – they don’t score as well,” Izzo noted.

“Michigan is not as big – Syracuse is huge inside – so it’s going to be really different groups there and it’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out,” he said.

Asked if he’d be cheering for Big Ten rival Michigan the Spartan coach was pretty clear:

“I’m not sure cheering was the right word – I like what Charles said on the stage when I asked him ‘Who do you cheer for?’ with Auburn … he said if Auburn was playing .. if Alabama was playing Russia – I’d cheer for Russia so I think he put it in perspective. I am happy for the Big Ten – John Beilein has done a good job there but I think it’s illegal to cheer for your rival, you can respect them, you can feel decently about it but I’m not waving any pom poms today,” said the Big Ten coach Izzo.

Click on HERE for all things Final Four!

Next up, a guy who knows a thing or two about breaking down opposing defenses.

Trey Burke, meet the Orange Crush.

The Final Four semifinal between Syracuse and Burke’s Michigan team will present a clear contrast in styles Saturday night – the Orange, a veteran group that is perfectly content to settle into their octopus-like zone, vs. the brash young Wolverines, who love to run, run, run and have been compared to those Fab Five squads of the early 1990s.

Clearly taking to heart the adage that offense wins fans but defense wins championships, Syracuse sounded like a team that fully expects to be playing in the title game at the Georgia Dome.

“It’s going to take them a while to adjust to the zone,” junior guard Brandon Triche said Friday, a day when all four teams got a chance to practice in the cavernous, 70,000-seat stadium that is normally home of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

The Michigan players quickly got wind of the comments coming from Syracuse’s media session.

“It sounds like cockiness,” said guard Tim Hardaway Jr., son of the former NBA star. “But it’s not going to come down to just talent or who has the biggest players. It’s going to come down to heart and passion.”

Having a player such as Burke doesn’t hurt, either.

The Associated Press player of the year already came up huge in the regionals, leading the Wolverine back from a 14-point deficit against Kansas with less than 7 minutes remaining. He knocked down a long 3-pointer at the end of regulation to tie the game, then finished off the upset of the top-seeded Jayhawks in overtime.

But Burke has never played against a defense quite like this.

“We’ve just got to try to find different ways to attack the zone,” the sophomore guard said. “They play a really good 2-3. It’s tough. We’ve got to make sure we knock down uncontested 3s.”

The zone is usually viewed as more of a passive defense.

Not the way Syracuse plays it.

Coach Jim Boeheim has assembled a bunch of guys with impressive size and surprising quickness. When they’re all working together – waving those long arms and moving back and forth in unison, like the ocean lapping at the shore – it can be tough to get an open jumper and nearly impossible to work the ball inside.

Syracuse (30-9) has taken its trademark D to new levels of stinginess in the NCAA tournament.

The Orange has surrendered a paltry 45.75 points per game, holding Montana (34), top-seeded Indiana (50) and Marquette (39) to their lowest scoring totals of the season. Overall, Syracuse’s four tournament opponents have combined to shoot just 28.9 percent from field (61 of 211) and 15.4 percent from 3-point range (14 of 91).

None of those teams had a player like Burke.

That doesn’t seem to matter to Syracuse.

“It’s tough to go against our zone when you’ve never seen it before,” forward C.J. Fair said. “We want to force him to do some things he’s not done before.”

Michigan (30-7) prefers to get in the open court as much as possible, a style that is even more advantageous against a team such as Syracuse, which has a size advantage at almost every position.

The Wolverines are averaging 75.5 points a game on the season, even more (78.8) in their four NCAA games. Last weekend, after stunning Kansas, they romped past one of the nation’s best defensive teams, beating Florida 79-59 in the regional final.

They are certainly not intimidated by Syracuse.

“If their zone was unbeatable, then they would be 39-0,” Hardaway scoffed. “We’re just going to go out there, play our game, not worry about what they’re going to do, and just play Michigan basketball.”

Syracuse is playing in its first Final Four since the 2003 team won it all. This will mark the end of the Orange’s long tenure in the crumbling Big East (they’re moving to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season), and the players are keenly aware this might be the best chance to give Boeheim one more national title before he retires.

The 68-year-old coach has no plans to step down just yet, but certainly the bulk of his long, successful career is behind him.

Boeheim concedes that he’s a little surprised to be in position for another championship, especially after Syracuse closed the regular season with four losses in its final five games, including a 22-point blowout at Georgetown. The Orange were seeded first in both 2010 and 2012 but didn’t make it out of the regionals. This season, they advanced to Atlanta as a No. 4 seed.

“I wouldn’t have expected going into the tournament that we were going to be here,” Boeheim said. “This team has come together. Sometimes that happens at tournament time. It happened to us in `96 when we kind of came together and got (to the Final Four). And other years, we’ve come close.”

Michigan hasn’t been to the Final Four since 1993, when the Fab Five team – Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson – lost in the championship game for the second year in a row.

These Wolverines have some of that same vibe, with a lineup that features three freshmen – Glenn Robinson III (another son of a former NBA star), Nik Stauskas and Mitch McGary – and a sophomore leader.

A couple of weeks ago, King dropped by one of Robinson’s classes to speak on an era that is still remembered fondly at Michigan, even though the triumphs were eventually thrown out by the NCAA because of illicit payments to Webber.

“A lot of people want to make the comparison,” Robinson said. “But we’re nowhere near the Fab Five. … They changed the face of college basketball. We try to stay away from all that.”

Still, it’s easy to see Burke fitting in with those great teams from two decades ago.

Now, he’s got a chance to do something the Fab Five never did – win a national title.

The Wolverines, you see, are feeling good about their chances, too.

Bring on the Orange Crush.

“If you’re not confident in the Final Four, then you shouldn’t be here,” Burke said. “We’ll be ready.”

Copyright 2013 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and The Associated Press is strictly prohibited.

Syracuse, Bing’s alma mater, meets Michigan in a Saturday night semifinal of the NCAA tournament in Atlanta.

The Wolverines sport a dynamic backcourt led by Associated Press player of the year Trey Burke and have been bolstered through the team’s tournament run by freshman forward Mitch McGary.

“Michigan has probably got more balance than anybody else,” Bing told the AP Friday. “I’m hopeful Syracuse is going to win. Then I’ll be coming back, I’m sure, for the championship game.”

Bing was an All-American at Syracuse, averaging nearly 25 points per game over three seasons. He was drafted by the NBA’s Detroit Pistons with the No. 2 overall pick in 1966. The 6-foot, 3-inch guard spent nine of his 12 years in the NBA with Detroit, averaging more than 22 points per game as a Piston.

He opened Bing Steel in Detroit in 1980 and saw it expand over the years into several companies under the Bing Group umbrella. He was elected in 1990 to the professional basketball Hall of Fame and was elected Detroit’s mayor in 2009.

Still a fan, Bing remains close to the Syracuse basketball program. He will attend Saturday’s game and acknowledges it’s “not going to be an easy win” for Syracuse.

Bing also has bet Detroit’s new emergency manager that Syracuse advances to the tournament’s final game Monday. Last month, Gov. Rick Snyder appointed bankruptcy attorney and fiscal turnaround specialist Kevyn Orr as emergency manager over Detroit’s finances, which include a $327 million budget deficit and more than $14 billion in long-term debt.

Orr also is a college basketball fan — and a University of Michigan graduate.

Bing said the meal will be somewhere in Motown.

“I want to make sure he spends his money in Detroit,” Bing said.

TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.