Overall, I had a blast in Michigan, a great time at my first Final Four. UConn's stay was short, of course. The Huskies did not play well against Michigan State. I think UConn beats the Spartans eight of 10 times, but as Tom Izzo said, that's totally irrelevent.

And Jim Calhoun, who quickly ended speculation about his future by announcing he will return next season, does not carry any bitter feelings into this offseason.

"If we can get 31 wins every year and get to a Final Four, obviously the goal is to win it, but a couple things got in the way," Calhoun said.

 "I have had a great experience at Connecticut and cannot thank my coaches and teammates enough," Thabeet said in a statement. "I look forward to the challenge of playing professionally and know that my time here at UConn has prepared me to be successful in the future. I also want to thank all of the fans in Husky Nation that have followed my career, especially those from my homeland of Tanzania, and hope they will all be as supportive of me at the professional level as they have been to this point."

Calhoun, who turns 67 in May, said he would take up to several months to "reflect on things" before announcing his intentions. But he avoided an offseason of speculation in saying he will coach for his 24th season at UConn.

"It is my full intention to return for the 2009-10 season," Calhoun said in a statement. "I look forward to coaching next season and to continuing as the head coach at Connecticut into the future. In many ways, the journey of this past season has made me realize how much I love coaching this game, how much I love my kids and how much I enjoy being at Connecticut."

The Huskies have headed home, a couple victories shy of a third national title. Now they embark on what should be an eventful offseason. From Calhoun examining his future, to possible NCAA sanctions to one wave of players leaving and another arriving, this is an interesting time for the program.

And this was a great season for the Huskies (31-5), who reached a third Final Four but came up short against Michigan State. UConn looked a little tired. The Michigan State defense was great. A rowdy pro-Spartans crowd gave Michigan State a lift. It all added up to an 82-73 loss that led to disappointment, but not shame.

"Shots we normally make, things we normally do, we necessarily didn't," Calhoun said. "Once again, I'll turn it over to Michigan State. They just kept -- they were relentless. They came out with their game plan. We were able to do exactly what we wanted to do, particularly getting the ball inside, continuing to Hasheem and to Jeff. They were able to run early so the game was exceptionally close. Anytime, even when two minutes to go, as we started about our eighth run, they had about 15 runs it seems. Both teams had an enormous amount of runs, it was who is going to make that play, make those foul shots, which we didn't in the second half. That made a difference."

UConn leaves Detroit disappointed, but proud.

"They gave us everything they had," coach Jim Calhoun said of his players. "Maybe not our A game, but everything they had. As a coach, I can't ask for more than that."

And below, here is Joe D, Wayne Norman and Muddbone -- the T.I.C.-Trio...

On behalf of young Mike Anthony, I would like to apologize to Michiganders for calling Detroit discombobulated. The poor kid got stuck walking around one of the rings inside the Renaissance Center for three hours and it was Mike who actually grew discombobulated. He thought he was in Toledo. I tried telling him about the best hockey town in America. I tried telling him about the great eats. I tried telling him about Motown. I regaled him with stories how I covered Mark Fidrych pitching the Tigers' home opener in the late Seventies. I even told him how you sent us Gordie Howe (Mr. Hockey), we sent you Dan Orlovsky (Mr. Step Out Of The End Zone Without Knowing It) and we should be thankful about the trade. But did he listen? Of course not. He thinks Al Kaline is the formal name of the People Mover. Truth be told, I think he is a little scared about the negative attention. So if you will have your people get noted Detroit businessman Pete Karmanos to send the Whalers back to Hartford from Carolina, I'm sure we could clear up this little misunderstanding and young Mr. Anthony will work up an immediate apology. I'm getting tired of telling him that he can't hide under that Rip Hamilton mask for the rest of his life.

The Final Four teams are practicing here today, and even that feels like an event. Especially with Michigan State still in the hunt for a title. About 25,000 fans showed up for the Spartans workout. At the conclusion, the team gathered at midcourt, walked to the edges of the elevated court and thanked the fans. 

"I just told the guys, 'Take a moment to do two things: thank the people that came, thank Detroit, and then soak it in because you're not going to get to soak it in from here on in," coach Tom Izzo said. "It's dog-eat-dog. We're going to be thinking about what we've got to do to accomplish our goals."

Kind of like entering Ford Field. I've never seen a basketball venue like this. After writing today, I took an escalator down toward the street level and walked toward the exit. But at the last second, I decided to take a quick look at the set-up for the game. I stood there for about 10 minutes, just taking it all in.

First of all, the court is directly in the center of the field, not pushed into the corner like at, say, the Carrier Dome or University of Phoenix Stadium. More than 70,000 seats surround it in perfect symmetry. Standing in the last row (from the lower bowl), the court looks like a little beige rectagle off in the distance. From this vantage point, it might be impossible to see anything more than flashes of green or grey as UConn and Michigan State race up and down the court.

And forget about hearing the ball bounce or the sneakers squeak. That won't happen from this distance. Oh, wait. Yes, it will. The NCAA has modified the accoustics at Ford Field to make it so that such sounds will shoot toward the top of the arena. (I didn't get specifics here. For all I know, that simply means there will be courtside microphones.)

Anyway, it's quite a sight. It will be amazing when it is full.

Today's media availability consisted of each teams' starters being split up and put in "breakout" rooms. So as a writer, you bounce around and gather as much as you can ... Scottie Reynolds talking about his game-winning shot over Pitt one minute, Hasheem Thabeet talking about his facebook status the next...

Yeah, as for Thabeet's Facebook status: Yesterday was April 1st, so for an April Fool's goof, Hasheem posted that he had failed a drug test and would not be participating in the Final Four. A misfire in an attempt to be funny, which Thabeet usually is. "Just a joke between me and my guys, a joke with my friends," he said.

But I appreciate the ride, I'm settled in and, of course, I'm glad to be here -- thrilled, in fact. The Final Four, to me, is the greatest event in sports. Granted, I've never been to one, but I'm assuming this week's games one with only bolster that notion. UConn-Michigan State, 6:07 p.m. Saturday. North Carolina-Villanova 40 minutes following that game. The national championship game is Monday night.

Here's how he opened up, touching on a lot of topics:

So be it, UConn players and coach Jim Calhoun are saying. We're in the Final Four, they say. It's our five against their five.

It will be interesting. The environment should be unbelievable. About 70,000 people -- yes, 70,000 are expected to attend at Ford Field -- and surely a large percentage of that record crowd will be wearing Spartan green.

More on this is tomorrow's Courant ...

Some other things to chew on as you gear up for the Final Four: