Field Hockey vs. Ball State Today,noon Oosterbaan Fieldhouse S S Women's Soccer vs. Siena Heights Today, 6 p.m. Elbel Field FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Penn State rivalry reaches same level as Michigan State and Ohio State :: .:. : v . By RACHEL BACHMAN Daily Football Writer Even though a flake of snow has not fallen, people are talking about who will represent the Big Ten at the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. That might have a little something to do with who the Michigan football team plays this Saturday. Penn State (2-0 Big Ten, 5-0 overall) will face the Wolverines (2-0, 4-1) at 3:30 p.m. at Michigan Stadium. Michigan coach Gary Moeller has declared the rivalry on par with that of Michigan State or Ohio State. Why should the Nittany Lions, who have faced the Wolverines only twice, enjoy the same status as opponents Michigan has played for nearly a century? Penn State has one of the most storied coaches in the country. In his 29th season as head coach, Joe Paterno ranks No. 1 in victories among active head coaches. Penn State's football program rivals Michigan's in stature. The Wolverines' overall record of 743-243-36 is the winningest in college history; the Nittany Lions' 679- 291-41 record is fifth-best of all time. This year especially, the Big Ten's newest member has a banner squad. "We're going to see one of the finest football teams and what people are calling Penn State's best offensive team ever," Moeller said. "It's like one and a quarter (games). It counts a little more than one." The implications of Saturday's game should help to solidify the rivalry. Since Michigan and Penn State stand atop the conference standings, this game likely will decide the Big Ten champion. Said offensive guard Joe Marinaro: "If we get by this one, we should be in good shape to go to the Rose Bowl." THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS ... THIS WEEK: The pollsters sure are fickle. A few weeks after voting Michigan eighth nation- ally, they bumped Michigan up to No. 5. "Two weeks ago, we weren't worth a darn," Moeller said. "Now somebody's trying to sneak up and whisper in our ear, 'Hey, you're gettin' good.' And then you listen to them, and they'll be back there telling you you're bad." How will the voting public view Saturday's matchup? "If you win this game, you're the best thing since peanut butter," Moeller said. "If you lose it, you're terrible." BACK TO (BREAKING) THE DRAWING BOARD?: The evidence was clear that Moeller wanted revenge for last year's loss to Michigan State. Before Saturday's 40-20 victory over the Spartans, Moeller, in his pregame pep talk, punched and broke the markerboard on which he diagrams plays. Will his enthusiasm lead him to similarly destructive behavior before the Penn State game? "I do not plan on breaking any blackboards this week," Moeller said. "I just want to win a football game." HOT HAMILTON: For the second time this year, Michi- gan kicker Remy Hamilton made four field goals Sat- urday. Hamilton also had four field goals against Notre Dame, one of them the game-winner. Michigan has struggled with its kicking game for several years. In fact, since Moeller became coach, he has not had a reliable kicker. But Hamilton has nailed 13 of 15 field goals this year. - Daily Football Writer Mike Rosenberg contrib- uted to this article. Tyrone Wheatley and the rest of the Wolverines take on Penn State this Saturday at JONATHAN LURIE/Daity Michigan Stadium. Dure penalty kick only goal in Blue win By JOHN LEROI For the Daily There is one sure way to tell just how well the Michigan men's soccer team will play on any given day: see how good its opponents are. The better the opposition is, the better the Wol- verines will play. But, if the competi- tion is knocking headers off their faces and whiffing on corner kicks, Dure chances are there is a sloppy soccer game in store. Lucky for the Wolverines, Siena Heights is not a very tough soccer team. Michigan (9-4-2) didn't look particularly brilliant in a 1-0 victory against the Saints. "We're playing to the level of our competition," Michigan coach Steve Burns said. "We're a good team, but to become a great team, we need to play well consistently." The Wolverines lone goal came on midfielder Karim Dure's penalty kick fifteen minutes into the second half. "We're not exactly in a scoring drought, but our forwards aren't scor- ing like they should," Burns said. "The halfbacks are putting the ball in the net, but we're waiting for (the forwards) to break through." Michigan doesn't seem to have any trouble on defense, however, as they pitched another shutout against the Saints. Recently, the defense has been a strong point for the Wol- verines and has kept them in some games. "(The defense) wasn't really tested at all (against Siena Heights)," defenseman Josh Leutz said. "Everyone's wondering what's go- ing on with the offense. We're con- centrating on knocking the ball around, not with scoring. "It's not that were not finishing our scoring opportunities, it's just that were not creating any. We're not con- cerned; it will all come together." Even though the Wolverines aren't scoring at will, they certainly can control the ball. The midfield and the defense both played well, keeping the ball on the ground and pushing play See SOCCER, Page 13 hese are the new top 20 teams in he USA Today/CNN coaches poll. first place votes are in parentheses: Team Record Prev 1. Florida (43) 5-0-0 1 2. Nebraska (13) 6-0-0 2 3. Penn St. (5) 5-0-0 4 4. Colorado (1) 5-0-0 5 5. Michigan 4-1-0 8 6. Alabama 6-0-0 9 7. Miami 4-1-0 10 8. Florida St. 4-1-0 3 9. Texas 4-1-0 15 10. Arizona 4-1-0 6 11. Kansas St. 4-0-0 13 12. North Carolina 4-1-0 14 13. Colorado St. 6-0-0 18 14. Virginia Tech 5-1-0 17 15. Syracuse 5-1-0 19 16. Notre Dame 4-2-0 7 17. Washington St. 4-1-0 20 18. Utah 5-0-0 21 19. Baylor 5-1-0 23 20. Wisconsin 3-2-0 22 Theirs. Ours. The people at Oracle are fast moving, fiercely competitive and smart. Oh, you'll hear someone say we're proud... and maybe we are. We're also technology innovators, business pioneers and industry-shaking deal makers. Our RDBMS software, suite of tools and services are undisputed world leaders. Leaders. Of course, the fun is keening it that way.