ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Downtown Ann Arbor bars and restaurants were packed Monday night as University of Michigan students and fans gathered to watch the Wolverines play in the NCAA men’s basketball championship.
At Pretzel Bell, fans lined up outside ahead of tipoff as the team’s postseason run fueled bigger-than-usual crowds.
“When they won the other day, it was awesome — the entire town, you could hear it just everywhere, every building,” said Carley Burkett, assistant general manager at Pretzel Bell.
Burkett said the bar was fully committed for the night, with many large groups returning after watching the Wolverines’ previous game over the weekend.
“We’re fully committed with our reservations for tonight. We have a lot of big top reservations, a lot of people that were here for the game on Saturday,” she said.
The same scene played out nearby at Regents Field. Co-owner Jacqui Buda said the restaurant was already booked by the morning after Michigan’s semifinal win.
“We had people making reservations before the game was even in the second half from Saturday night,” Buda said.
Buda said the crowd and energy for the championship game were expected to resemble Michigan’s football championship win in 2023 - standing room only – only this time fans will be cheering on the Wolverines on the hardwood.
“It’ll be a packed house — it’ll be like national championship for football,” she said. “We’re hoping to start a trend and maybe there’ll be a couple of repeats.”