The Michigan Daily - Thursday, October 30, 1997 - 11A Rose Bowl picture will be clearer after this weekend By David DenHerder and Mak Francescutti Daily Sports Writers The dust is finally starting to settle on a rambunctious Big Ten conference. In a season that began with boundless potential, Rose Bowl hopes now only dance in the hearts of four teams. tional title dreams enchant two. east weekend the eyes of the nation were focused on East Lansing, where No. 4 Michigan once again broke the hearts of the Spartan faithful to remain one of the conference's two remaining unbeaten teams. With its second loss in as many weeks, Michigan State was all but eliminated from the Rose Bowl pic- ture. The ninth-ranked Buckeyes are still ,nging to a ray of hope this week after . posing of Northwestern in Columbus. A surprising No. 18 Purdue has a.share of the conference lead with an impressive victory over Illinois last Saturday. This weekend features all four of the Rose Bowl hopefuls in what should help condense the post-season picture. No. 18 PURDUE (4-0 BIG TEN, 6-1 OVERALL) AT No. 16 IowA (2-2, 5-2): Do not be deceived by Iowa's .500 nference record. The Hawkeyes have- had the misfortune of playing Ohio State and Michigan back-to-back. In the game against the Wolverines, Iowa took the fourth quarter loss personally, and proceeded to take 62 points of anger out on lowly Indiana last weekend, Purdue is undefeated in conference play and humbled Illinois last week, 48- 3. The key to that game was Kendall SIG TENS Continued from Page 8A score low. Although the Wolverines are the favorite this year, the race will not be a cake-walk. Wisconsin, the three-time defending champ, is tough again this year. The sixth-ranked Badgers will be looking to add to their winning streak and to their league-leading total of 32 Jimpionships. Ranked just behind the Badgers is No. 7 Michigan State. The Spartans finished third last year behind Michigan at the Big Tens. Minnesota is the fourth Big Ten team ranked in the top 25. The Golden Gophers are ranked 24th. Although the Wolverines have not fin- ished first as a team since 1993, the indi- vidual Big Ten champion has come from Michigan the past four seasons. Sullivan contributed to the last chigan Big Ten championship, finish- ing first in 1993. Mathews and his 177 yards rushing. The key to this game will be his absence - Mathews will be sidelined 2-4 weeks with a leg injury. That puts the spotlight on Iowa's Tavian Banks, who averages 160.7 yards rushing per game. Quarterback Matt Sherman also will be returning after sus- taining a sprained thumb last week, offering little consolation to the Boilermakers. Purdue is allowing 20.3 points per game already. To put things in perspec- tive, Michigan has allowed 37 points in all its conference games, and 24 of those came from Iowa. Prepare for a high- scoring affair this Saturday. Purdue will have its first winning sea- son since 1984, but Iowa will try to make sure the Boilermakers won't have a shot at Pasadena. Iowa 35, Purdue 17 No. 9 OHIo STATE (3-1, 7-1) AT No. 20 MICHIGAN STATE (2-2,5-2): Michigan State is another team with a deceiving 2-2 conference mark. One fluke loss to Northwestern and a crush- ing defeat to Michigan has the Spartans on the outside looking in. Ohio State, on the other hand, still has a glimmer of hope for the Big Ten title, but now must run the table and get some help from Penn State's oppo- nents. As far as this week's game goes, the Buckeyes match up fairly well with Michigan State. Ohio State beat a very similar Iowa team earlier in the season by shutting down Banks and will try to do the same with tailback Sedrick Irvin. And he didn't let down after that, win- ning in '94 and '95, as well. But last year, Sullivan was not able to compete in the event because of an injury that kept him out the entire season. In Sullivan's place, Mortimer picked up the slack and picked up a victory as he became champion, keeping the streak alive. Now, both are back and healthy, posing an interesting situation this week. Although both Sullivan and Mortimer have been trading victories this season, they have crossed the finish line together. Both have finished the race coasting to their respective victories, but will that happen this weekend? "I'm definitely looking to retain my title this year, and I'm sure Kevin wants to win it as much as I do," Mortimer said. Although Sullivan and Mortimer are competing for the individual title, they both want to win for the team. "This is the best team I've ever been on," Mortimer said. "I'd really like to win the Big Ten championship." The Buckeyes will also have to deal with quarterback Todd Schultz who, except for last week's debacle, has been leading a methodical and impressive Spartan offense. It's do or die for Ohio State's Rose Bowl hopes, but it's do or die for Michigan State's respectable bowl hopes. Michigan State coach Nick Saban will have his team back on top of its mental game, so don't expect deject- ed Spartans, and don't expect Michigan State to drop two straight at home. This will be a good one. Michigan State 17, Ohio State 14 No. 2 PENN STATE (3-0, 6-0) AT NORTHWESTERN (1-4, 3-6): After the Wildcats beat Michigan State in all-too-familiar fashion, some people were calling for another upset in Columbus. But the Buckeyes prevailed over the Cats, 49-6. Which Northwestern team will show up against the second-best team in the nation? It might not matter - the Nittany Lions have won 11-straight and are coming off a bye week. They will be well-rested and hard to stop. Northwestern running back Adrian Autry will need to have an even bigger game than he did against Michigan State to offset Penn State offensive threats Curtis Enis and Joe Jurevicius. No upset here. Penn State coach Joe Paterno wants his 400th win, and the Nittany Lions will give it to him. Penn State 35, Northwestern 14 ILLINOIS (0-4, 0-6) AT INDIANA (0-4, 1-6): Get the family together and prepare for the all-American toilet bowl. Illinois Micihlgan held Iowa's Tavian Banks at bay two weeks ago, but this week he will use his 160.7 yards on the ground to tryto hand Purdue its first loss of the season. and its 12-game losing streak square off for a David versus David battle in Bloomington. The Big Ten will finally have the answer to a question it has been ponder- ing for five weeks: Which team is the worst of the worst? Illinois coach Ron Turner has run out of options and is again starting redshirt freshman quarterback Tim Lavery, who also started in games against Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin. Indiana has suffered four consecutive losses against top 25 teams and has also dropped four straight to the Illini. But in the end, there cannot be two worst teams. After 60 minutes with 30 punts, Bobby Knight comes in to throw a chair at the Illini offense, leading to Indiana's dramatic game-winning safety. Indiana 2, Illinois 0 (OT) GUEVARA Continued from Page 9A they won just one game in the Big Ten and eight games overall. Under former coach Trish Roberts, Michigan posted a lowly 5-63 record in the Big Ten. Guevara injected new life into the program, and the Wolverines finished with a 15-1l record last season. "We wanted to be 8-8 in the Big Ten," Guevara said. "We were 7-9, and we can be better than 7- 9." Guevara is not the only person with confidence in the Wolverines. The Sporting News picked Michigan to finish fourth in the conference. Part of that confidence results from the return of the top seven players from last year's team. Senior Polyannna Johns was named to the pre- season All-Big Ten team and will be a key con- tributor for the '97-98 team. "She is a stronger, leaner, meaner Polyanna Johns with more range on her shot," Guevara said. "She wants to go to the next level, and she worked very hard over the summer." Handling the ball this year for the Wolverines is Stacey Thomas, last year's Big Ten Freshman of the Year. In her first season, Thomas averaged 12.9 points a game and made 71 steals, good for fourth on Michigan's all-time steals list. . "I have to work on my defense," Thomas said. "They call me the hugger because I like to hug a lot. I need to work on my weakside defense." There is energy and excitement surrounding this year's basketball team. Last year, attendance at Michigan's games tripled. The Wolverines now walk with a little swagger in their step and have confidence that was absent in years past. "I think there is lot of baggage that is gone," Guevara said. "This team is mentally stronger than last year. Is it as strong as I think it can be? Not by any means." Michigan will need increased mental toughness if it wants to contend for the conference champi- onship. Illinois returns everyone from its Big Ten co- championship team last year. The Fighting Illini have been picked by The Sporting News and the Big Ten media poll to win the conference again this year. "People that contend make layups and make free throws," Guevara said. "They need to have a men- tal edge even on the road." Right behind Illinois is Iowa, another of the reg- ular season Big Ten co-champions and the winner of last year's Big Ten Tournament. Iowa returns all five starters as well, including two members of the preseason All-Big Ten teams, Tangela Smith and Angela Hamblin. The Wolverines will be without the services of several of its 1996 contributors. Anne Poglits focused her attention on volleyball while Jennifer Kiefer was forced to retire due to injury. But several newcomers will be stepping in to help replace them. Guevara recruited three freshmen and one trans- fer from Bowling Green. Anne Thorius, a native of Horsholm, Denmark, will also be expected to step in and contribute right away. Guevara is excited; upcoming season. "I hope we can put year," Guevara said. about her freshmen and the on a good show for you this - .1M CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Corp. i Investment Banking High Yield Debt Equity Financing Mergers and Acquisitions Merchant Banking Restructuring and Advisory You are cordially invited to attend our information session: Thursday, October 30, 1997 4:30 - 6:00 PM. Michigan Room* Come learn about opportunities for financial analysts in a fast-paced, collegial and highly rewarding Wall Street environment at one of North America's top ten financial institutions.