U U w V V V- 1" W w w R s. ky 'j 1 f t ..s # ; c rr''j(:: . jr' .y . ; !;'P , : 4 N'''k% , 2 k 'F ' ' C k: f j; sr - ' :ri ; ''S 'K Front than boasts more show one-man Who can figure p be a certain parity, you're bound to have numbers of different predici- nions vary on No. 1 spot tons." By Pete Steinert By Adam Schrager The time: early evening, Sept. 10 The place: an Ann Arbor resi- dence The situation: the nationally televised Michigan-Notre Dame football game The viewers: two loyal Michigan football fans "This should be a cakewalk for Michigan," the first fan says. "We're ranked No. 1 in the country, and they're ranked 15th. We should have no problem." "What do you mean?" the other fan says with surprise. "I read in some magazine that Notre Dame was ranked fifth, and we're 27th. We're going to get killed." Oni "Your magazine must have been wrong because I saw another poll where Michigan was second and Notre Dame was 13th," the first fan says. "The Irish have no chance." "I think you're the one who's mistaken, my friend," the second fan says, becoming disgusted. "I also read another poll that said that Notre Dame was fifth and Michigan was 13th. Michigan better watch out." Fans, welcome to the pre-season poll zone. This is a dimension where on a whim, reporters, editors, and "experts" predetermine a team's fate for the upcoming season. People don't actually trust these polls though, do they? "I don't believe in those things," said Iowa head coach Hayden Fry on being named No. 1 in the Sport magazine pre-season poll. "I'd rather be at the top than at the bottom though. I'll have to sit down and write those guys a thank-you note before the season starts." Thank-you notes have been com- ing from a plethora of different schools this season due to the parity of college football. In 10 separate college football pre-season polls, four different teams (Michigan, Iowa, Clemson, and Florida State) have been named to the No. 1 slot. "There's usually great difference in pre-season polls unless there's a great power entering the year," said Sport's managing editor Peter Grif- fin. "Generally though, there will be a large overlap of the top four or five teams in the country. But you have to remember, these predictions are pure opinion and speculation. And in a year like this, where there seems to For Exam Preparation Choose to EXCEL! " Learn to Anticipate the Exam " Improve Your Test-Taking Skills - Use Your Study Time More Effectively " Achieve Your Maximum Potential Score Test Preparation k ore Than As far as the top five teams go, only Florida State ranked in the top five in all 10 polls studied. Clemson appears in eight, Oklahoma in seven, Nebraska in five, and South- ern Cal, UCLA, Auburn and Notre Dame in three. It seems that this season, there is not even the overlap, but instead a feeling that anyone can beat anyone else on a given Saturday. If this is true, then do these polls matter? Do these polls have any merit? Should people continue to rank teams? "You can't rank teams," said Northwestern defensive tackle Andre Walker. "No one picked Michigan State to win the Big Ten last year, and they did. Pre-season polls don't mean anything. It all comes down to the season." Have no fear, Andre, one won't see a poll in this article, simply for the reason that the knowledge needed for one is subjective. The result would be purely opinion, somewhat of an art, rather than a science. Due to the large number of polls and disparity among them, one would think that what they say would not have any impact, but this couldn't be further from the truth. "Generally, it puts a major bur- den on a team to be named No. 1," said Griffin. "It creates outside ex- pectations from fans all over the country. If, for example, Iowa were to finish 10th this season, which is great, some people will be disap- pointed because we predicted them to be No. 1." Michigan State is a gooddexam- ple of a team whose fans are directly affected by these pre-season polls. If the polls can be believed, then the Spartans, who are ranked in the top 20 by eight of ten polls, are forced to consecutively play four teams that have been ranked in the top five (Notre Dame, Florida State, Iowa, and Michigan). But because the Spartans aresnot ranked in the top five, does this mean they don't have a chance? "I'm glad we're not ranked high or favored to win the Big Ten," said MSU quarterback Bobby McAllister. "The guys who are up top now have nowhere to go but down. I don't envy them. It doesn't matter where you start, it's where you end up." So, where does this lead the vul- nerable, permeable college football fan? "I don't know," said Ohio State coach John Cooper. "It's not how good we're going to be, but how good we're going to be relative to other teams. And if what they say is true, I'm in deep, deep trouble." There's more to Michigan's defensive line than just All-America candidate Mark Messner - much more. "The defensive line overall, I think, is going to be really strong," junior defensive tackle Warde Manuel said. "We have a lot of people returning. We only lost two people from last year (Billy Harris and Dave Folk- ertsma), and I think we have enough people back to be strong and do what we need to do." Messner - the team's top returning tackler and sacker - lines up alongside middle guard Mike Teeter and defensive tackle John Hermann. Teeter, a 6-4, 255- pound junior, moves into Harris' vacated spot. Her- mann started all 12 games last season and registered 11 tackles for losses, second on the team only to Messner. "(Messner's) going to be able to, hopefully, pick up his slack that he doesn't get. "I've lost a lot of weight. I'm down about 12 pounds since last season. My speed has increased and probably my strength." Teeter won the starting middle-guard spot in the spring. mil) gotten a lot of press, and he's a great athlete, great competitor and a great player," Hermann said. "That's go- ing to leave me out of the lime- me as much. I'm DEFENSIVE LINE light. No one is going to key on A knee injury sustained against Notre Dame limited his playing time last season. The Wolverines' depth goes at least four deep with middle guard T.J. Osman and tackles Manuel, Brent White, and Mike Evans. Any of the four could land starting spots with plenty of other teams. White (6-5, 248) continues to come back after seri- ously injuring his knee in an automobile accident last summer. The injury forced him to miss most of the '87 season. He'll back up Messner. After White's injury Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler said, "(White), in my opinion, would have ended up being one of the great pass rushers that we've had." Manuel (6-5, 262) will press Hermann for playing time at the other tackle position. Manuel saw his first action as a Wolverine last year and showed good potential, recording seven tackles for losses and three quarterback sacks. "It (defensive tackle) will be a busy spot," Manuel said. "I think John Hermann is an excellent player. I'll do my best to push him in practice. Coach (Tom) Reed plays us a lot, so I expect to get a lot time." Osman started two games and played in five others at middle guard a year ago. Evans seeks his first regu- lar-season action. Messner, already Michigan's all-time leader in most tackles for loss yardage, sacks and most sack yardage, needs five more tackles for losses to move into first place ahead of Curtis Greer. U I HE WAS ALREADY A LEGEND IN 1970. IN 1988, NOTHING HAS C INSTINCT, the latest album from area native James Osterberg (ak2 L: . i~UEH reestablishes his grasp on the cutting edge of rock. 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Brown/Black/Whiskey/Burgandy CALL NOW (419) 823-3154 using VISA or MASTER CARD OPEN 24 HOURS 540E.Liberty 761-4539 OPEN 7 DAYS Michigan Union 6621= OPEN 24 HOURS 1220 S.University 747.8070 On A&M Tapes and Discs 523 E. Liberty Ann Arbor 994-8031 Open 7 Days Open Every Evening or mail order to TUCANO TANNERY PO BOX 46 WATERVILLE, OHIO 43566 VISA -® I lw PAGE 18 WEEKEND/SEPTEMBER 9, 1988 WEEKEND/SEPTEMBER 9, 1988