Hail to the victors -- March 23 -- Day 11

Because Michigan's game with VCU was scheduled as the first game of the afternoon doubleheader, we decided to check out of the hotel and head on to Cleveland after the game. Max has been doing a wonderful job of packing so that each day we only have to access a couple of the six suitcases we brought with us. Nonetheless we have been completely unloading the car at each stop, having heard stories of people who lost their belongings when their cars were broken into while parked in a hotel parking lot. After checking our bags with the hotel's front desk, we headed back to the Palace for the afternoon. As you probably know by now, the anticipated battle with VCU never really materialized. Michigan, which leads the country in the fewest turnovers per game department, played almost a perfect game and won handily 78-53. They head off next to Dallas, where they will play Kansas on Good Friday in the South Region semifinals. If they can play as well as they did in Auburn Hills, they could win the entire tournament. We had hoped that Michigan State would have an equally easy time against Memphis, but they were only ahead by a few points at half. Notwithstanding we decided that the lateness of the hour and the prospect of a long drive in the dark dictated that we leave, even though it seemed the outcome was still in doubt (the Spartans took over in the second half and won going away 70-48). We picked up our luggage and headed first south around Detroit and then east along the southern edge of Lake Erie and arrived in a cold and windy Cleveland around 9 p.m. I was delighted to learn that our downtown hotel had its very own Starbucks, meaning I didn't have to venture into the elements for the morning latte!