Page Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY I hursday, December /, 19 /I Page Six THE MICHIGAN DAILY BT By BOB McGINN It happens every year. In fact, you can almost set your watch by it.aAt thesbeginning ofweach and every college basketball season coaches across the coun- try ballyhoo the caliber of play in their respective leagues. This time around, though, the words emanating from the Big Ten mentors carry an urgency never heard before. Illinois coach Harv Schmidt's comments typify those of his colleagues: "Without a doubt, from top to bottom, this is the best group of basketball players in Big Ten history." Michigan head man Johnny Orr elected to go even one step fur- ther. "The Big Ten will play the nation's best basketball in 1972- 73," he said. 73All right, fine. So the Big Ten coaches have gone a little over- board. Anybody would after the 1ignominious football record the conference has compiled over the past decade. But what do out- side observers think about all this overactive public relations work? If you're former Iowa and present Oregon State coach Ralph Miller, you believe every word of it. After his team's loss to Michi- gan Monday night, Miller un- equivocally stated, "Believe me, the Big Ten has the best teams from top to bottom in the country this year." Before discarding his com- ments because of his old ties, consider this. The Beavers are en bills cage V )i \ FOR MORE INFO, CoNrACT: BOB STEWARD HENDERSON FORD 769-7900 For stu*nts and taculty 21 and over RENIT'ACAR members of the Pac-8, which plays fine basketball themselves in addition to having UCLA as one of its members. Miller cer- tainly isn't endearing himself to anybody with remarks like that. No, there just may be a chance that he means exactly what he says. So if Schmidt and Orr and Miller are all right, what are their reasons? The trio would tick them off so fast it would make your head spin: * An incredible 39 of last year's 50 starters return. @ 11 of the loop's 14 top re- bounders are back. * The first four scorers return. " A bevy of freshman and sophomore talent dots every ros- ter. Thus, Big Ten fans are poised for an exciting, evenly-matched title chase this winter. Five teams, perhaps even six or seven, have a legitimate shot at crack- ing the conference throne room. But to do it, 1972's defending champion, the Minnesota Go- phers, will have to be dealt with. And that won't be an easy task. Last year fanatical rookie coach Bill Musselman guided his charges to the school's first out- right championship since 1919. All five regulars are back, along with a trio of "can't miss" new- comers, to make life miserable for conference foes. The Big Ten's MVP, Jim Brew- er, along with mobile senior cor- nerman Clyde Turner and Ron Behagen, return to form a highly formidable front line. 6-9 Corky Taylor and 6-6 Dave Winfield, who played so well in the late stages of 1971-72, would start for many clubs, but ride the pines here. As Orr says, "When you talk talent, you begin with Min- nesota's big men." The Gopher guards will be con- sistent junior Keith Young and mediocre Bob Nix. Junior college transfer Bob Larsen and soph HOLIDAY SPE CIAL SPcciA'- R.Az jj 2-30 OPEN i PM i . MPt Greg Olson, both 6-5, have per- formed well in this season's early games. Musselman fully realizes that his immensely able crew must perform well to repeat. "As in every other sport the biggest job of all is to repeat as champs, and that doesn't happen very often in the Big Ten," he warns. The principle roadblocks for the Gophers appear to be Ohio State and Michigan, although you wouldn't know it if you had seen them play thus far. The Buckeyes have lost to lowly Washington and *were forced into overtime by Notre Dame before winning. The Wolverines are 2-0, but have been extremely sluggish. Fred Taylor begins his 15th season at the Buckeye helm with everybody back from last year's runner-up squad, except for sur- prise MVP Mark Minor. Allan Hornyak and 7-0 Luke Witte spearhead the attack, which was virtually nonexistent after the brawl at Minneapolis. "Our main asset is experi- ence," Taylor said recently, and with 6-7 cornerman Wardell Jack- son and guard Dan Gerhard, both regulars last year, he's right. The other forward berth has been occupied by 6-3 senior Bob Siekmann and 6-7 soph Bill Andreas. At Indiana the Hurryin' Hoos- iers have everybody back but leading scorer Joby Wright. But with pivotman Steve Downing, swingman John Ritter, freshman Quinn Buckner, and guards Boot- sie White and Frank Wilson, Coach Bob Knight's aggregation should be a definite factor in the race. Perhaps the biggest victory in the Big Ten's current 17-6 record has been the Iowa Hawkeye's upset of eighth-ranked Kentucky earlier this week. Coach Dick Schultz' veteran team must rate a definite darkhourse as they, too, have four veterans return- ing. The Hawks are led by 7-0 sky- scraper Kevin Kunnert, flashy guard Rick Williams, and 6-7 forwards Neil Fegebank and Jim Collins. prunch There's talk of title up in East Lansing, with the Spartans pos- sessing three superior performers in 6-7 center Bill Kilgore, 6-8 soph Lindsay Hairston, and guard Mike Robinson. But unless Gus Ganakas can come up with some- body other than his 5-5 son Gary and forward Allen Smith as his other regulars, it'll be the same old story: second division status. Purdue's Boilermakers and Il- linois' Illini both appear to be improved from a year ago. New Riveter coach Fred Schaus has tough forward Frank Kendrick and 6-11 John Garrett, but little at guard. Schmidt has two po- tential all-league cagers in Nick Weatherspoon and Duke transfer Jeff Dawson, but no center. Northwestern and Wisconsin can't help but be better, since they both have almost everyone still around. The 'Cats will look to Greg Wells and Mark Sibley, while Badger mentor John Pow- less hopes the Hughes twins and Leon Howard can save his job. An indication of the enthusiasm surrounding this year's race is the ticket situation at Minnesota. The Gophers sold out their 17,500 plus seat Williams Arena a month ago, and here at Michigan, season ticket sales reached an all-time high of 9,500. NI --Daily Photo MINNESOTA FORWARD Dave Winfield (31) hauls down a rebound against Michigan's Ken Brady (15) in Michigan's 64-52 victory at Crisler Arena last year. The defending Big Ten champion Gophers will be hard pressed to repeat this year. E __ __ _ __ - 1i*. II S I 'iI Ii NON-ORDINARY STATES OF REALITY IN BUDDHIST TRANCE LECTURE BY DR. LEWIS LANCASTER from U.C., Berkeley' ATHLETIC GRANTS CUT, TOO Big Ten-abandons USOC CHICAGO (P)-The Big Ten with- ulty group, said the Big Ten was drew yesterday from its United dropping its class E membership, States Olympic Committee mem- with three votes on the U.S.O.C. bership, the first athletic confer- "on the same grownds as the" ence to follow the break by the NCAA." NCAA with the Olympic group in! "This is no intention to impair* October. or destroy the Olympic movement, 'Th'bnrtinn gnnnnr~d 'G Rigbut we hope this action will pre- f t ne acuon was d Ia OUd Dg Ten faculty representatives and athletic directors concluded their three-day winter business meeting at which operational economy was keynoted. MARCUS PLANT of Michigan, chairman of the policy-making fac- Thurs.-4 p.m. Modern Langauges Bldg. Aud. IV i cipitate congressional or other ap- propriate action to remedy the way the U.S.O.C. administers its affairs," Plant said. ALSO IN THE interests of ath- letic economy, the Big Ten reduced the number of total basketball tenders from 24 to 18 and re- affirmed a previous proposal to HAIRSTYLING AS YOU LIKE ITS NEW TRENDS FOR 1973 TRIMS-SHAGS and RAZOR CUTS 2 SHOPS 0611 E. University " 615 E. Liberty Dascola Barbers limit to 15 full tenders annually for varsity sports beyond football and basketball. However, the 15 te-ders can be split on the basis of tuition, board, or room into 45 Ssegments. At the same time, the Big Ten officials sought to avoid a too stringent reduction of minor sports by ruling that to remain a con- ference member each school must conduct varsity competition in six other sports beyond football and basketball. The Big Ten has cham- pionship competition now in base- ball, track, swimming, wrestling, golf, cross country, fencing, tennis and gymnastics. Billboard The Michigan track team will sponsor their Annual Holiday Preview Meet tomorrow night, Friday, Dec. 8, at Yost Field House. Field events begin at 6:30 and track events start at 7:00. As part of a series: Dimensions of Religious Experience SPONSORED BY THE OFFICE OF RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS GUILD HOUSE-802 Monroe FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8 11 Noon Luncheon-35c u i __ .-=- E TURN IN YOUR YOUTH CARD FOR TWA's. YOU'LL GET A TOP LP ALBUM AND A WHOLE LOT OF THE WORLD FOR FREE. EDWARD LIU, China Studies "THE OVERSEAS CHINESE PROBLEMS AND DILEMMAS" (Series: "China, Its People and Relationships") I Join The Daily Ad Staff WARNER/REPRISE 4' RECORD S 7 tS; =.e . 0' It may sound funny to turn in your card for a free TWA card, but it's worth it. If you turn in your American or United or whatever other airline's youth card you have to your campus representative or any TWA counter (or pay $3 for a new one, if you don't have one to turn in), you'll get more than any other airline offers you. Maximum discounts on TWA and all other airlines, more free things and, on top of all that, a free album. FREE ALBUM-FIRST 10,000. First, you'll get a Record Club of America coupon Plus a free lifetime membership in Record good for your choice of a free top album worth up to Club of America, with no obligation to buy any $6.98. From a list of over 100 incredibles. Like Three record. The offer's limited to the first 10,000, so Dog Night, Neil Diamond, Roberta Flack, Elton John. you've got to do it soon. FREE MONEY-SAVING COUPONS. JONI MITCH ELL "FOR THE ROSES" When you land in any of six cities (London, , Boston, Paris, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Denver) with your TWA card, you'll get a brochure full of hundreds of dollars' worth of deals. And we mean deals. Like absolutely free or 50% off. What we did was to talk to students in those cities and ask where they'd take their friends-not BOSTON FREEBEES. FREE A spaghetti dinner at the "Spaghetti Emporium, Inc.," just off Harvard Square. FREE Breakfast in the "Pewter Pot Muffin House" (14 locations) where many Harvard students stop first in the morning. . 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FREE A full breakfast at your choice of 10 Quality Inns, famous for their hearty fare. FREE A pint of "Watney's Red Barrel" in "The Prospect of Whitby," or your choice of over 40 London pubs. $3.17 AMERIC "HOMECOMING" $3.17 BONI RAItT "GIVE IT UP" $3.17 U.&Lf~ m £~TTT'1 =I I