MEN'S BASKETBALL (1) Kansas at OKLAHOMA, inc. (4) Utah at RICE, inc. Wofford at (19) COLO., inc. San Diego State at (25) STANFORD, inc. MIAMI (Ohio) 86, E. Michigan 77 WRIGHT STATE 56, Loyola (Chicago) 54 ILL.-CHICAGO 87, Oral Roberts 78 CENTRAL CONN. 60, Youngstown St. 52 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (6) LA. TECH 98, (8) Tennessee 80 PRO BASKETBALL ATLANTA 106, Golden State 100 ORLANDO 93, Detroit 84 Portland at CHICAGO, inc. Charlotte at SAN ANTONIO, inc. PRO HOCKEY Boston 3, WASHINGTON 3 Detroit at PHOENIX, inc. Tuesday February 25, 1997 ALAN GOLDENBACHI'S FIELD OF 64 4 Yo! Wanna know who's gonna make the tourney? The Bronx Bomber plays the Swami, baby! Here's the rundown.. 'M' penalties only hurt opponents Shorthanded efforts, goals to key the playoffs Diy Sprts ne It is a time of desperation. When an average hockey team sends a player to the penalty box, the situation becomes desperate. But not at Michigan; it's not average. This weekend, the nation's No. I team reasserted its dominance on the penalty kill with a remarkable showing against Lake Superior. Friday, the Wolverines pitched a shutout, denying Lake Superior on all nine of its power-play opportunities, securing an 8-0 victory. Saturday, they did more of the same, holding the Lakers to one goal in nine chances. Their outstanding record while having fewer men on the ice is something that becomes even more valuable as the play- offs approach, according to Michigan coach Red Berenson. "Every penalty is a scoring chance - particularly in close games;"he said. The traditionally tight games of the postseason are when it is critical to have a solid defensive unit. Last season, Michigan encountered one-goal games in the CCHA champi- onship, the NCAA regional final and the NCAA championship game. And with the playoffs starting in two weeks at Yost Ice Arena, Berenson senses the impor- tance in defending the net. "Goals-against is probably more important than goals-for (in the play- offs)" he said. And for that reason, Michigan has rea- son to be secure. Led by forwards Bobby Hayes and Dale Rominski, the penalty-killing unit for Michigan has prevented goalie Marty Turco from being peppered with shots while down a man. Hayes and Rominski, sophomores fighting for playing time on a team loaded with talented players, routinely throw their bodies to the ice to block shots. But there is a price to pay for routine- ly using your body as a dartboard. Hayes blocked one too many shots Friday, sidelining him for Saturday's game with a bruised hand. "If he's going to have that role on the team, he's got to live up to it and pay the price," Berenson said. e Wolverines should slide into the tournament - not exactly good news. Mic /ikan' n, but so are a lot of c t/er teams MARK FRIEDMAN/Dal With John Madden in the penalty box and Bobby Hayes out with a bruised hand, Dale Rominski saw more time than usual on the Wolverines' penalty-killing unit Saturday night against Lake Superior. He is shown here against Bowling Green. 'm about to do something that I could get a lot of praise for. Something that can bring me acco- lades that surpass those of the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes. I'm going to tell you which teams are going to make the NCAA Division I men's basketball tourna- ment. Wait a minute, you might say. You're not on that infamous commit- tee which always seems to screw up very March, leaving anywhere from ne to a bunch of teams out of the Big Dance. But I have a quality that those com- mittee members don't. I'm a college basketball fan. I want to see the best teams there for the sake of watching a great 2 1/2 weeks of basketball. I have no eco- nomic interests or alumni interests clouding my decisions. Not yet, at least. But back to my task at hand. Here, my friends, are the 64 lucky teams: We start with the 30 teams that receive automatic bids as a result of winning their postseason conference tournaments - or in the case of Princeton, Minnesota and UCLA, teams that get in automatically because their conferences don't have a' postseason tournament. The Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Sig ... whatever. You know which ones I'm talking about. The confer- ences which have schools that you just have to laugh at. Tennessee- Martin of the Ohio Valley Conference, Northwestern State (northwest in what state, I don't know) of the Southland and Weber State of the Big Sky are a few that I happen to like. But in any event, as I looked over e 30 conferences, I took the liberty no, not the school in first place in the Big South Conference) of deciding that 10 of those conferences are just meaningless. They simply exist to fill up spots in the field and make teams with 18-12 records which don't make the tourney really angry. Ultimately, maybe three or four of these teams will even make it out of the first round, proving that as a whole, this group of conferences has no business placing teams in the tour- nament. So regardless of whether a team that went winless in the regular sea- son wins its postseason tournament, the conference's regular-season champ still won't get an invitation in my book. Seriously, if you put 20-5 South Alabama on the same court as 16-Il Virginia. youtknow that the ACC's Cavaliers will just flick off that Sun Belt powerhouse with their pinkies. That leaves us with 44 spots left. Forty-four teams that actually are good and belong in a tournament strictly reserved for the nation's elite. Knock 25 teams off that list of 44. Those are the teams in the top 25 poll at the end of the season. Heck, if you're one of the top 25 on one list, you gotta be in the top 64 of another which ranks on the same criteria. The next 10 spots will be taken by teams which are champions of what I say are legitimate conferences - the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, WAC, Conference USA for example. Of course, will be quite a bit of overlap- ping with the top 25 in this group. But there will be a few cases where the current frontrunner won't win the postseason conference tournament. Playing the law of averages, and knowing a bit about college basket- ball, we'll say that takes care of five more teams. We're down to 14 and this is where the fan in me, and more important, the knowledgeable basketball critic, shines through. We have to decide which teams are the worst of the nation's best. I'm penciling in schools like Providence, which has played second fiddle to Villanova in the Big East all season and has players both talented, See GOLDENBACH, Page 10 "It's an opportunity for a role on the team:' And it's not just an opportunity to gain minutes for Hayes - he actually enjoys filling the specialized role for Michigan. "Bobby Hayes takes as much pride in blocking shots and killing penalties as any of our players do in scoring goals, Berenson said. "He has shown the moxie and courage it takes to play that role." Hayes and Rominski serve only half of the job necessary to halt a power play, though. To score a goal with fewer men on the ice than the opposition is often demoral- izing for the power-play squad, and that is an area where Michigan excels. On the season, the Wolverines have netted 21 shorthanded goals - 18 more than they have allowed. "If you can kill a key penalty at a key time in the game - it's huge" Berenson said. Saturday, it was center John Madden who was huge for Michigan. Late in the third period, Michigan forward Chris Fox had just been sent to the penalty box for high-sticking. And Michigan was not only down a man, but it was also down a goal. Madden controlled the puck in the neutral zone and beat two Laker Superior defensemen to the net for the tying goal - shorthanded. "When Madden scored the goal it was huge,' Berenson said. "We couldn't afford to give up a goal - and we scored a goal. That's a double-edged sword, hav- ing the ability to do that." Madden is the NCAA leader in career shorthanded goals with 22 - six more than his closest challenger. SENIOR STANDING: Michigan defensemen Blake Sloan and Harold Schock have been stalwarts behind the blue line for four seasons at Michigan. Now they are candidates to represent their nation in the same capacity. The United States team for the World University Hockey Championship, which will be held April 4 at Joe Louis Arena, will be selected by USA Hockey general manager Jeff Jackson in"late February Sloan, a native of Morton Grove, Ill., and Schock, from Okemos, are among 24 players under considera- tion. Michigan State coach Ron Mason will coach the team, which plays only one game - against Canada. John Carroll Iunlvcrslty,- Summer 1909 Our catalog of summer classes is ready to be mailed to you. The catalog gives you a complete listing of our course offerings, special workshops, and travel programs. Call today for our Summer 97 Catalog. oMen's basktbal at Big Ten tournament, Indianapolis, TBA In's swlmming and *Ing t Big Ten championships, Bloomington, noon/7 p.m. Call 216-397-4257 or e-mail CGIBBONS@ JCVAXA.JCU.EDU Sessions beginning May, June, and July Put the world at your fingertips. 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