Friday night in downtown Detroit, that was a blast.

That was a great environment.

It was a great college basketball game.

It was a tremendous showcase for the Washington-Aw County area, for the state of Michigan,

for this basketball part of the country.

Yes, Michigan needing a whale of a performance down the stretch to hold off Eastern Michigan 88 to 83.

That's not what many expected going into Friday night's matchup at Little Caesar's Arena.

But I do think that there is something to be said for just how motivated, just how fired up, and just how well Eastern Michigan showed out in this one.

The Eagles treated this in a lot of ways like their Super Bowl.

If they can maintain that type of intensity, that type of skill level in the Mid-American

Conference, they got a great chance to win it and get to the tournament for the first time

this century.

Now, this night was special for a lot of reasons. First of all... They got a great chance to win it and get to the tournament for the first time this century.

Now, this night was special for a lot of reasons.

First off, these young men getting an opportunity to play in an NBA arena.

Everyone who plays basketball dreams about getting to the NBA.

Many who play college basketball aspire to get to the professional level and play in the league.

Not everybody will get there.

But what's so unique about this non-conference schedule, about this ability for Michigan to play in this game,

for Eastern Michigan to play in this game, is that it was a chance to walk into Little Caesar's Arena to take the floor

and to compete in front of a lively engaged 14,000-plus person crowd.

It was special. And listen, when it comes to the actual game, there's plenty to dissect,

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