Hockey
vs. Miami
Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m.
Yost Ice Arena
SPORTS
Football
vs. Illinois
Saturday, 12:10 p.m. (ABC-TV)
Michigan Stadium
The Michigan Da
ily
Wednesday, November 11, 1992
Page 9
'M' rises in polls, falls in title race
Huskies' loss jeopardizes Michigan's championship aspiratations
by Josh Dubow
and Matthew Rennie
Daily Football Writers
More than a week after the presidential
election had been decided, Michigan foot-
ball coach Gary Moeller was still talking
about polls.
Moeller's Wolverine football squad (6-0
Big Ten, 8-0-1 overall) moved up to No. 3
in The Associated Press poll this week after
top-ranked Washington fell to Arizona.
While the Huskies' loss helped
Michigan's immediate ranking, it may have
hurt the Wolverines' shot at a national title.
Michigan now needs No. 1 Miami and No.
2 Alabama to lose to have a realistic shot at
the national crown.
Some experts theorized that if the
Wolverines had defeated an unbeaten and
top-ranked Washington team in the Rose
Bowl, they could have leapfrogged to the
top slot.
"As I've said before, we have to count
on things we can't control," Moeller said
Monday at his weekly news conference.
"Regardless of what happens in the polls, if
we're fortunate enough to go 11-0-1, I'm
going to be proud of this football team."
Michigan can clinch a spot in the Rose
Bowl and an outright Big Ten title with a
victory Saturday over Illinois (2-3, 5-4).
The Wolverines close the season with their
traditional finale against Ohio State next
week.
Moeller used the Washington example
to illustrate the problems with football's
current system of determining a national
champion.
"It's sad that when a college football
team loses one game, suddenly they're not
that good any more," Moeller said. "It puts
a kind of pressure on the kids that says if
you lose one game, you can't be national
champs. That's not right."
While that may sound like a vote for a
postseason tournament, Mocller hedged on
that idea.
"I don't think it would ever work," he
said. "You'd need at least four teams and
probably eight. Then, you've made your
season that much longer."
Moeller also cited the 1980 Michigan
team, which lost two early-season games
but went on to win the Rose Bowl, as an
example of how the best teams at the end of
the season might not even make a tourna-
ment field.
"It's really not right," he concluded. "If
I drop a football game this season, I still
know that I've got a good football team. No
one goes through life undefeated."
BOWL TIME: With a victory Saturday,
the Wolverines clinch the Big Ten champi-
onship outright and a return trip to the Rose
Bowl.
Last year, the Big Ten made an agree-
ment to guarantee its second- and third-
place teams with bowl games. The Citrus
Bowl will take the Big Ten's second-place
team, and the third-place team will go to
the Holiday Bowl.
The Citrus Bowl will probably take
Ohio State (4-2, 7-2). If the Buckeyes win
Saturday against Indiana, the Buckeyes will
almost definitely spend New Year's in
Orlando.
However, the Holiday Bowl might back
out of its agreement. The Holiday Bowl has
an escape clause in its contract if no eligi-
ble Big Ten team has eight wins against
Division I-A competition. No Big Ten team
will win eight games this season.
Michigan State (4-2, 4-5) is currently in
third place in the conference. If the
Spartans win their final two games of the
season, they will finish second with a 6-5
record.
In the agreement the Holiday Bowl's
deadline for accepting a Big Ten team was
6 p.m. Monday. However, Big Ten athletic
directors gave the bowl officials until 6
p.m. Sunday to make their announcement.
Reports say the Holiday Bowl will take
the Spartans if they finish with six wins be-
cause of their national appeal as well as to
keep on good terms with the Big Ten.
INJURY UPDATE: Inside linebacker
Dave Dobreff is out for the season with a
knee injury. Steve Morrison and Bobby
Powers will start Saturday against Illinois.
Marcus Walker is probable for Saturday's
game. Walker injured his shoulder against
Purdue and missed last week's game at
Northwestern. Defensive tackle Buster
Stanley is questionable this week after suf-
fering an injury to his hand against Purdue.
TV TIME: Michigan's next two games
will be televised by ABC-TV. Satuday's
game against Illinois and the Nov. 21 game
at Ohio State are both slated for 12:10 p.m.
starts.
OUTSTANDING FANS: Michigan will
likely set an NCAA single-season atten-
dance record Saturday. The Wolverines
need a crowd of at least 104,811 to break,
the record they set in 1985. Michigan aver-
aged 105,588 fans per game in 1985.
MICHELLE GUY/Daily
Following the lead of his fellow running backs, redshirt sophomore Jesse Johnson rumbles
through a hole in the Northwestern defense last weekend.
Knuble's check
HOCKEY NOTEBOOK Causes controve
rsv
._ _ , ..., ._ ... , _..._ #
by Brett Forrest
Daily Hockey Writer
SAULT STE. MARIE - It
was cold. It was windy. There was
some good hockey. It was the Soo.
Here is what happened.
GOONIN' IT UP: With 1:11
left in the third period Saturday,
Michigan sophomore M i k e
Knuble laid a crushing check on
Lake Superior defenseman Keith
Aldridge. Just after the whistle
had blown for a delayed offsides,
Knuble buried Aldridge into the
boards just inside the Michigan
zone.
Aldridge's helmet cracked and
went gliding down to the goalline
as he lay stunned on the ice.
Knuble was assessed a five-minute
major penalty for elbowing and a
game disqualification for Friday's
contest with Miami in Ann Arbor.
Aldridge was taken from the game
for medical treatment.
Mixed reviews followed thc
incident.
"That was a brutal, brutal call,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson
said. "The kid's head hit (Knuble)
around the hip. The referee didn't
confer with any of the other
officials before making the call.
That's terrible."
Lake Superior coach Jeff'
Jackson held a different opinion.
"I'm going to make sure that tape
gets sent to every coach in the
league and gets sent to the
commissioner," he proclaimed.
"If the commissioner decides
not to do anything about it, then
I'm going to make sure it gets sent
to College Hockey USA and
PASS," Jackson continued. "That
was a major attempt to injure and I
can't deal with that."
The 6-foot-3, 210 pound
Knuble explained his hit of the 5-
10, 165 Aldridge. "He just hit me
wrong," Knuble offered. "I didn't
instituted by the CCHA at the
beginning of the season is
currently drawing some flack from
players and coaches. Eleven
penalties were called Friday, 24 on
Saturday. Some comments from
the weekend:
"The system is hard on players
and coaches," Berenson said.
"Sometimes it seems as if (the
refs) don't know what the heck
Griddes I.
Just drop off your picks at the second floor of the Student Publications Building at 420 Maynard by noon
on Friday to win a $15 gift certificate to O'Sullivan's Eatery & Pub.
1. Illinois at Michigan 11. Notre Dame at Penn State
2. Purdue at Michigan State 12. Nebraska at Iowa State
3. Northwestern at Iowa 13. Colorado at Kansas
4. Indiana at Ohio State 14. Duke at North Carolina State
5. Minnesota at Wisconsin 15. Georgia at Auburn
6. Oregon State at Washington 16. Arizona at Southern California
7. Temple at Miami (FIa.) 17. Washington State at Stanford
8. Alabama at Mississippi State 18. Hawaii at San Diego State
9. Tulane at Florida State 19. Eastern Michigan at Toledo
10. Syracuse at Boston College 20. Princeton at Yale
Tiebreaker: Name:
Total points-Illinois at Michigan Phone:
There's more than one place
to find a compater...
Team (first-place votes)
1. Maine (25)
2. Lake Superior State
3. Boston University
4. Michigan
5. Clarkson '
6. Harvard
7. Wisconsin
8. Denver
9. Miami (Ohio)
10. Western Michigan
elbow him, my hands were down.
I wasn't trying to hurt the kid."
NEED SOME POWER:
Michigan's power play went 2 of
14 against Lake Superior. Its
penalty killing allowed six goals
on 17 Laker chances. For the
season, Michigan is 11 of 47
(.234) on power plays and has
killed 39 of 51 (.235) power plays.
ONE BETTER THAN
TWO?: The two-referee system
Record
2-0-1
3-1-0
1-0-1
4-2-1
2-1-0
1-0-0
4-2-0
5-1-0
5-1-0
4-1-1
Pts. PW
250 1
216 2
167 3
153 6
108 4
78 8
77 5
71 9
69 10
49 -
0
Bonisteel Blvd.
a, a
os
they're doing."
"I don't like it," Wolverine
David Oliver said. "The NHL
uses one referee and it seems to
work for them. I don't see why we
need two here."
"It's a hard job being a ref. It's
not something I would want to
do," Michigan defenseman Pat
Neaton said. "My initial reaction
was that I didn't like it. It gets me
mad sometimes. At times it helps,
though, with action behind the
play."
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Fuller Road
Catherine
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