DETROIT — The funk of the Detroit Lions' locker room has struck again.

Connecticut lost to Michigan State tonight in the Final Four, dropping basketball teams to 0-5 at Ford Field after using the locker room for the lowly NFL team that became the first with an 0-16 record last season.

"We know all about it," Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis said. "We won't be in it."

North Carolina would have dibs on the Lions' digs, as the top-seeded team in the matchup, but star center Tyler Hansbrough hopes the Tar Heels stay in the locker room they were in before and after beating Villanova.

"I am superstitious," Hansbrough said. "If that's the case, I don't know what will happen."

Well, it is the case.

Michigan State used the Lions' locker room in the first basketball game in the football venue, losing to Kentucky in 2003 before a basketball world-record crowd of 78,129 fans.

The trend continued in the Midwest regional semifinals last year when Wisconsin lost to Davidson, in the final as Kansas beat Davidson en route to the national title, and on Dec. 3, 2008 when Michigan State lost to the Tar Heels by 35 points.