Women's Volleyball
vs. Minnesota
Friday, 7 p.m.
Cliff Keen Arena
S
Hockey
at Bowling Green
Friday, 7 p.m. (PASS)
Bowling Green, Ohio
FOOTBALL NOTBOOK
Mo: 'We won't give up'
Wolverines intend to finish season on high note
By ADAM MILLER
DAILY FOOTBALL WRITER
For Michigan football coach Gary
Moeller, the remainder of the season
isamatterof learning, toughness, and
respect.
During yesterday's teleconfer-
ence, several members of the media
quizzed Moeller on the team's reac-
tion to, and recovery from, Saturday's
last-minute defeat at the hands of Illi-
nois.
To each question, -Moeller re-
sponded that his team would not fold
in the face of disappointment.
"We're not a football team - and
never will be - that will ever just
give up hope or anything like that,"
Moeller said. "We're going to come
out and play the best football we can
play.
"Our mission now is to win our
next four football games and what-
ever happens because of that, just
happens."
Moeller added that the Wolverine
coaching staff would not have to use
gimmicky emotional appeals to
Michigan tradition or pride to keep
the players' focus.
"I don't think (our appeals) will be
anything special," Moeller said. "We
look at ourselves and what we want to
accomplish for ourselves. Because we
understand sports today, and the me-
dia coverage, we've got to look be-
yond that. We've got to separate the
good and bad for ourselves, and get
our respect."
Finally, Moeller specifically ad-
dressed the emotional healing of
tailback Ricky Powers, whose lost
fumble set up the Illini's winning
drive.
"If anything it's something that
you don't dwell on," Moeller said.
"I told the team yesterday that there's
a lot of plays in a football game and
that one obviously is going to stick
out.
"It's something you can't accept,
just like you can't accept some other
things that happened, and it's got to
hurt because you're going to remem-
ber it.
"If it doesn't have a significant
hurt or pain to it, than I don't think
that it's a good lesson. I think (Pow-
ers) will heal, and I don't think it's
going to put him in the tank in any
way.
TRAINING ROOM REPORT: Moeller
said that Wheatley (groin, shoulder)
most likely will not play Saturday.
Powers and fellow tailback Ed Davis
will, in his words, "have to pick up
some slack."
Inside linebacker Steve Morrison
(foot) will probably play, but Moeller
said that since he has just resumed a
limited amount of practice, he will
not be seeing full-time action.
Inside linebacker Bobby Powers
(internal injuries) still has notrecov-
ered from the blow he took in the
Penn State game; he is definitely out
this week.
Defensive tackle NinefAghakhan
(shoulder) is also doubtful.
Aftercompleting this catalogue of
key personnel sidelined, Moeller
sighed, "And that's about it."
STRANGE BUT TRUE: Michigan is
ranked No.24 in the latest Associated
Press poll. The Badgers are No. 21.
Michigan is 1-2 in the Big Ten, 4-
3 overall. Wisconsin is 2-1, 6-1.
The game is at sold-out Camp
Randall Stadium.
The line for the game stood yes-
terday at Michigan by 3.5 points.
Maybe these lines reallydon't have
anything to do with predictions.
MICHELLE GUY/Daily
Offensive lineman Trezelle Jenkins helps Todd Collins evade a sack in Michigan's 24-21 loss to Illinois. The
Wolverines' offensive line struggled against the Illini, as evidenced by Michigan's mere 78 yards on the ground.
Delany seeks guaranteed bowl bids for fifth, sixth-place Big Ten teams
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -
.18Commissioner Jim Delany will ask.
Big Ten athletic directors this week to
approve seeking one-year agreements
with open football bowl games for the
league's fifth- and sixth-place teams,
a report today said.
The proposal, if accepted by the
athletic directors when they meet
Thursday in Indianapolis, could help
ensure that a nationally ranked Big
*Ten squad is playing in the post-sea-
son despite having two late-season
games that involve ranked opponents.
"We're talking to a lot of other
bowls right now about entering into
one-year agreements," Delany told
the Bloomington Herald-Times. "A
number of bowls have tie-ins which,
by contract, they are obligated to
honor, unless the tie-in conference
fails to produce a team that is bowl-
eligible. That could happen.
"I feel pretty confident that we'll
be able to settle into a relationship for
a fifth-place team. And I think we'll
have five bowl-eligible teams,"
Delany said.
The Big Ten has four bowl com-
mitments, but six teams currently
ranked in the top 25, including third-
ranked Ohio State and No. 12 Penn
State. The others are Wisconsin (21),
Michigan State (22), Indiana (23) and
Michigan (24).
"It seems hard to see a seventh
bowl-eligible team, but it's hard to
figure out all the permutations pos-
sible. We'll try to tie in a fifth- and
sixth-place bowl as soon as we can,"
Delany said.
Such agreements may take a few
weeks to work out, he said.
"If we have two or three bowls
out there who want to do it, we may
want to analyze whether it's worth
waiting for a week or two," Delany
said. "Some conferences are going to
be struggling to fill their commit-
ments.
"In Indianapolis, we'll probably
run it by the directors and see if they're
willing to let us go ahead and do a tie-
in now, on a one-year basis. If they
are, we would probably go ahead and
do that."
A team must win six Division I
games to qualify for bowl games, and
lucrative bowls could open up at the
last minute.
"So the question for the directors
and football coaches is: Go to the bird
in the hand at this point, or wait?"
Delany said. "Our hope is that we'll
be able to go six-deep. I think that is
not unreasonable in the environment
we're in. We had a good September,
and we've had a great race so far."
The Big Ten's final standings
won't be determined until two weeks
after the usual final round of games
Nov. 20. Michigan State hosts Penn
State on Nov.27 and plays Wisconsin
Dec. 4 in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Tok-
yo.
The Big Ten has deals to send
teams to the Rose, Citrus, Holiday
and Hall of Fame bowls.
Media day showcases new-look men's basketball team
By CHAD A. SAFRAN
DAILY BASKETBALL WRITER
The Michigan men's basketball
team has been the reason for some big
*parties the past two seasons. The two
celebrations following NCAA semi-
final victories over Cincinnati and
Kentucky, respectively, will go down
in the annals of Ann Arbor history.
The Wolverines hosted a party
that was much smaller and more se-
lective than the one last April 3, yes-
terday, as the 1993-94basketball team
hosted its coming out party for the
local media.
Because he lost five players to
graduation and Chris Webber to the
NBA, Michigan coach Steve Fisher is
faced with a 10-player squad that is
quite different than the one that took
the floor almost seven months ago.
"What were our two greatest
strengths (size and the bench) a year
ago, are now our liabilities," Fisher
said among the bevy of television
*cameras, lights and tape recorders.
"The beauty of it is the fact that who
we've got is pretty good and will give
us a different look."
Fisher must contend with the fact
that he possesses only two legitimate
big men in Juwan Howard and Leon
Derricks. While Howard and Der-
ricks both stand 6 feet 9, and Howard
weighs 250 pounds, Derricks pushes
the scale needle just past 210 lbs.
"We put himon the same diet as
Shawn Bradley (the Philadelphia
76ers 7-foot-6 rookie lightweight),"
Fisher said. "Unfortunately, he's had
about the same success as Bradley,
but Bradley has to pay for his."
While Fisher may be lacking a
true center, he does have some versa-
tility with junior guards Jalen Rose
and Jimmy King as well as junior
forward Ray Jackson.
"Jalen is going to play all over. He
may even become the first player in
Michigan history to play all five posi-
tions in one game," Fisher said. "You
will see him inside more.Offensively,
What were our two
greatest strengths
(size and the bench) a
year ago, are now our
liabilities. The beauty
of It Is the fact that
who we've got Is pretty
good and will give us a
different look.'
--Steve Fisher
Mmen' s basketball
coach
he's fine. Defensively, he could have
some problems if he has to guard
someof the real big men in the confer-
ence.
Jackson said he is looking for-
ward to his opportunity to play on the
perimeter as well as setting up down
low.
"I didn't play too much (this sum-
mer) but I puton 10poundsofmuscle,"
Jackson said. "I worked real hard to
get stronger. If I get one of those little
fellas on me, I'll take him."
One of the "little fellas" Michigan
has is newcomer Bobby Crawford.
The 6-foot-2 guard from Houston is
going to be a contender for the one
starting spot that is still up in the air.
"I'm real nervous," said Crawford,
who committed to Michigan during
lastNovember's early signing period.
"After seeing these guys on TV, I'm
excited. It's what I've been waiting
for."
The wait for Crawford and the rest
of the Wolverines will end Saturday
when they take to the court for the
first practice of the season.
At that time, Fisher will begin to
mesh Michigan together so they can
throw another April party.
EVAN PETRIE/Daly
Jalen Rose and the Wolverines hold the season's first practice Saturday.
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