Students began lining up to get into many Ann Arbor bars on Monday — some even camping out Sunday evening — to watch the University of Michigan men’s basketball team play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship game against the University of Connecticut Monday evening. The University’s team secured a spot in the final Saturday and ultimately won the national championship game, 69-63.
Thousands of students prepared to watch the National Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship game after the University of Michigan men’s basketball teamsecured a spot in the final. Students began lining up to get into many Ann Arbor bars on Monday, with some choosing to camp from Sunday evening until bars opened on game day.
Queues extended from the entrances of Good Time Charley’s and Scorekeepers Bar and Grill, with both announcing they will be hosting watch parties for the game. In a post to Instagram, Good Time Charley’s wrote they would allow attendees to enter the bar at 5 p.m.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Engineering junior Nathan Clark said he began queuing at Good Time Charley’s at 6 a.m. Monday before switching to the line at Cantina. Clark said the limited amount of space available in the venue made arriving early necessary.
“I knew that it would be crazy,” Clark said. “I knew a lot of people would want to come here, so I decided I’d get ahead of (the crowd) and I’d do things the right way and wait in line. We just wanted to make sure we got a spot and potentially a table.”
Clark said he was forced to join the line at Cantina instead because Good Time Charley’s reached capacity based on the number of people already in front of him in line. He said the bar’s management failed to control how large the line was, including prohibiting people from skipping the line.
“(Management) just didn’t watch the line at all,” Clark said. “They came out of the door earlier in the day and they said they were gonna come out and stamp people, take names, so everybody would be guaranteed a spot that had been waiting in line — that just never happened.”
Engineering junior Ryan Archer joined the queue at Cantina at 10 a.m. Monday and told The Daily the amount of people who cut into line ahead of him was frustrating. He also said he was prevented from entering Good Time Charley’s because the bar was full.
“Shoutout to all the people that cut in front of us today,” Archer said. “Now the bar’s at full capacity. Shoutout to all the people that ruined our day. … To be honest, there hasn’t been any positives.”
Attendees wishing to go to Scorekeepers Bar and Grill and other bars — such as Rick’s American Cafe and The Garage Bar — could avoid the uncertainty by purchasing a ticket granting them entry to the venue through LineLeap, a platform allowing users to buy passes to skip lines. At Good Time Charley’s, for example, the price for one such ticket reached $500.
LSA freshman Nevaeh Pruitt told The Daily she thought queuing for long hours at Cantina, despite the chaos, was a good example of how students can show their pride in the University.
“The University of Michigan basketball team is the best thing I have in my life right now,” Pruitt said. “No one believed me when I said they were going to be good this year, and now everyone’s out here. … We are all very proud of the school, and I think that is why everyone is so hyped.”
Daily News Editor Quinn Mittlestat can be reached at qlouise@umich.edu.
