AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? Sometimes good fortune comes at the worst time.

Just ask Colleen Zimmerman.

The devoted Jayhawks fan, a 1993 Kansas University graduate and longtime fundraiser for the KU School of Engineering, traded her crimson and blue for maize and blue less than three months ago when she took a new job as associate director for major gifts at the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan.

She didn’t know it at the time, but The Palace at Auburn Hills – about a 45-minute drive from campus – was slated as a subregional site for the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s like Lawrence to Kansas City,” she says.

Then, after the tournament selections, seedings and sites were announced Sunday, one of Zimmerman’s friends called and delivered the news: Her Jayhawks were coming to play close to her new home.

It hit her like a shot to the gut – because she’ll be gone.

“I’m absolutely heartbroken,” she says, preparing to leave town today. “We can’t even get into it. I’m just heartbroken, but there’s nothing I can do.”

Well … not exactly. Zimmerman and her husband, John Sprague, plan to be in Lawrence for the weekend, taking care of lingering transition issues. They’ll be hunkered down at the 75th Street Brewery, enjoying the Possum Trot Brown and hanging out with friends.

And she’ll be hoping the Jayhawks continue playing their way to the regionals next weekend in Oakland, Calif., where the Zimmermans just might be able to catch a game or two in person.

“Actually, I fundraise in California,” Zimmerman says, of her new gig with Michigan. “It could be very convenient.”

Upon her return home, Zimmerman will be working to establish an alumni chapter for southeastern Michigan. Anyone interested in helping, joining or otherwise commiserating about all things KU can e-mail her at kurock_chalk@yahoo.com.

¢ Ticket time: Like other schools in the subregional, KU received an allotment of 350 tickets for Friday’s games at The Palace. The school then requested and received another 200 tickets, bringing the total to 550.

Of that total, 300 to 350 of the tickets are going to qualifying members of the Williams Fund who request tickets, said Jim Marchiony, an associate athletic director. Donors in the fund’s Champion level ($25,000 a year and above) and All-American level ($10,000 and above) receive tickets, if requested.

Also buying tickets through KU’s allotment: 65 KU students and 24 faculty and staff members. The rest are to be used for the KU basketball program: players, families, staff and others.

Marchiony expects plenty of other fans to scoop up tickets through other means. While Auburn Hills doesn’t offer the warmth of San Diego or the alumni base of Dallas, the Detroit suburb has one thing those other sites do not.

“It’s not where the site is. The attraction is KU basketball,” he said. “It’s KU in the NCAA.”