Tyler goes for a title

Tyler Hansbrough and North Carolina play for the national title tonight in Detroit against Michigan State. It's a rematch of a December game which the Tar Heels won 98-63 at Ford Field.

A few tidbits caught my eye this morning while reading the AP wire:

The funk of the Detroit Lions' locker room has struck again.

Connecticut lost to Michigan State on Saturday night in the Final Four, dropping basketball teams to 0-5 at Ford Field after using the locker room for the lowly NFL team that became the first with an 0-16 record last season.

"We know all about it," Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis said. "We won't be in it."

North Carolina would have dibs on the Lions' digs, as the top-seeded team in the matchup, but star center Tyler Hansbrough hopes the Tar Heels stay in the locker room they were in before and after beating Villanova.

"I am superstitious," Hansbrough said. "If that's the case, I don't know what will happen."

Well, it is the case.

Michigan State used the Lions' locker room in the first basketball game in the football venue, losing to Kentucky in 2003 before a basketball world-record crowd of 78,129 fans.

The trend continued in the Midwest regional semifinals last year when Wisconsin lost to Davidson, in the final as Kansas beat Davidson en route to the national title, and on Dec. 3, 2008 when Michigan State lost to the Tar Heels by 35 points.

HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE: Considering the way the city and state have embraced coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans, they might have the biggest home-court advantage in the history of the Final Four. It extends all the way to the floor beneath their feet.

The hardwood court at Ford Field was made at a mill in Amasa, Mich., some 40 miles from the Iron Mountain town in the Upper Peninsula where Izzo grew up. Local maple trees are used in the production of floors sold to arenas around the country.

After the Spartans beat Connecticut to extend its improbable run and advance to Monday night's final against North Carolina, Michigan State alum Dave Morton, class of '61 and a resident of nearby Crystal Falls, wondered in an e-mail: "Maybe the workers put a special blessing on that floor."

-- Associated Press

Then there's the fact that Hansbrough passed Larry Bird for 12th all-time in NCAA scoring and that this is the 30th anniversary of Bird's Indiana State team losing in the national championship game to Michigan State.

Hansbrough is 2-0 in championship games at the end of a season. Like his sophomore year in high school when the Mules finished fourth, this is the second straight trip to the Final Four for North Carolina.

The Tar Heels are 7-point favorites tonight except in the DAR Sports department. Alex Abate and Rob Tate (both from Michigan) are pulling for the Spartans. Abate actually attended State and Tate picked MSU to win it all at the start of March. Neither have been invited to the Rosener's house tonight (only because Jack's early bed time and the late start.)

We'll have a complete rundown from the game in Tuesday's DAR, as well as the Cardinals opener. (Went to Memphis this weekend to check out the Cardinals. More on that later.)