We don’t typically cover sports here at Michigan Messenger, but we’d be remiss not to note that two of Michigan’s state universities were in the second round of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament this weekend. The University of Michigan’s Wolverines lost to Oklahoma State, 73-63 while Michigan State University’s Spartans won over University of Southern California, 74-69.

MSU will now move to the Regional Semifinals — the “Sweet Sixteen” remaining teams — to face Kansas State University next Saturday. 

This year’s NCAA tournament will have a special impact on Michigan since the final will be held in Detroit at Ford Field on April 6. The economic impact could be large since it’s the first time a NCAA tournament venue has had capacity for more than 70,000 fans; this could prove to be a real shot in the arm for the Detroit Metro area economy if the event draws an amount close to a capacity crowd.

Anecdotal evidence from visitors to the Dayton, Ohio area this past week in advance of the first and second rounds held at University of Dayton Arena suggests that Detroit-area hotels will already see heavy booking volume; there were very few rooms available in the Dayton area this past week days in advance of the tournaments.