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." r "-CrLm Fuller Road Catherine i y ! 1 1 1 r T - T- " ____T y r i 0- lmBel lTowsire N. niversi 9 - . @9 .. U CCRB 0 s Computers and printers at these ITD Campus Computing Sites are available to all U-M students, faculty, and staff. \4,4 S. University I - I - i 0 V'. 4.f Yi.. Michigan Union (UNYN) Lower Level V 2. Angell Hall Courtyard 444 Mason Hall 3. Undergraduate Library Room 412 4. 611 Church Street 4th Floor " 5. Natural Resources 110 Dana Building 6. Dental School * 8. Social Work 2065A Frieze Building * 9. Public Health II Room G442 10. Learning Resource Center 3950 Taubman Medical Library 11. Nursing School (NIB) Room 4210,400 N. Ingalls Bldg. 12. Art & Architecture Library, Room 2106 North CamDus Commons (NCC) *113. . ...a f w. . 1