Students flooded Ann Arbor’s South University Avenue and nearby neighborhoods after Michigan’s 69-63 title win over UConn, torching couches, hay bales and other furniture

By Jordyn Pair
mlive.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Multiple couches, hay bales and other furniture met an early demise as students lit more than 40 fires across Ann Arbor after Michigan basketball’s national championship win Monday night.

Hundreds of students took over South University Avenue and nearby streets shortly after 11 p.m., April 6 to set off fireworks and climb anything they could find: light poles, shoulders, trees and fences.

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The Wolverines ‘ title, clinched in a 69-63 win over Connecticut in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, is the second in program history and their first since 1989.

Celebrating throngs quickly moved outward into surrounding neighborhoods, dispersing into groups of students darting across darkened streets to the next party. And it didn’t take long for a soundtrack of cheering coeds and jovial car honking to have a new instrument join the medley – the wail of fire trucks.

One of the first fires came roughly 20 minutes after the Wolverine win. By 12:30 a.m., students showed no signs of slowing down, per Mike Kennedy, chief of the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

Firefighters blared their horns at cars and pedestrians alike as they rushed from one intersection to the next. Most of the fire appeared to be pieces of furniture.

Around 1:30 a.m., the number of fires set in the city had climbed north of 40, Kennedy said.

Two people were also arrested over the course of the night, said Chris Page, spokesperson for the Ann Arbor police. One person was arrested for disorderly conduct, resisting and obstructing, and assaulting a police officer, while another was arrested for arson.

Multiple street signs were also damaged during celebrations, police said. South University Avenue reopened around 1 a.m.

This is not the first time students have celebrated with lighter fluid and a disfavored couch. Students set 17 fires after the Wolverines’ 2024 win for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

The Ann Arbor Police Department also announced that a championship parade will be scheduled “in the coming days.”

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