The Michigan Daily - Thursday, December 3, 1998 - 15A
Citrus, Outback bids up in air;
Buckeyes not likely for Sugar
'M' could face any of three SEC foes in one of two bowls
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - If
Tennessee beats Mississippi State in
the Southeastern Conference champi-
onship game on Saturday, Arkansas
apparently will be in the Citrus Bowl
in Orlando, Fla.
The 1Ith-ranked Razorbacks (9-2)
will play a Big Ten team - either
Ohio State or Michigan - in the Jan.
I game. The Razorbacks beat
Northwestern 38-7 in 1981, the only
time they have faced a Big Ten team.
Ohio State (10-1) is No. 5 and
defending national champion
Michigan (9-3) is No. 15.
If Mississippi State upsets
Tennessee, the Bulldogs would go to
the Sugar Bowl and Tennessee would
probably bump Arkansas out of the
Citrus and into the Outback on Jan. I
in Tampa. In that case, Georgia -
now apparently headed for the
Outback - would probably replace
Mississippi State in the Cotton Bowl.
Ohio State is No. 5 in the Bowl
Championship Series rankings, but
apparently is not going to play in the
four-bowl alliance. Big Ten officials
are bound to be irate, but it comes
down to economics.
The Orange Bowl has Big East
champion Syracuse and bowl officials
believe the Orangemen vs. Ohio State
would mean lots of empty seats.
The four bowls in the alliance -
Fiesta, Orange, Sugar and Rose - pay
each team $12 million. Tickets are
$125 per to the Orange, Sugar and
Rose and $150 to the national champi-
onship game in the Fiesta. An Orange
Bowl with 20,000 empty seats is $2.5
million short.
So, the Orange Bowl might go
around Ohio State and make Florida
one of two at-large teams in the BCS.
Southeastern Conference
Commissioner Roy Kramer said that
after the I vs. 2 matchup is made, "the
rest of it is a business decision."
Florida, he said, could take 30,000
fans to the Orange Bowl.
The Gators have not played in
South Florida since 1987.
Tennessee is a two-touchdown
favorite over Mississippi State. If the
Vols win by 14 or so, they figure to
play in the Fiesta Bowl. If they win
close, UCLA and Kansas State could
be matched in the Fiesta. In that case,
Tennessee would replace Kansas State
in the Sugar Bowl against Florida
State.
If Kansas State gets to the Fiesta
against Tennessee, then Ohio State
would wind up in the Sugar Bowl,
UCLA would be in the Rose against
Wisconsin and Arizona would get
bumped out of the alliance.
"All of us would love to have
Arkansas," said Gary Walker, a former
Arkansas resident who is a member of
the Citrus Bowl committee.
The Razorbacks could be in the top
10 next week, depending on the cham-
pionship games this weekend. "No. 5
(Ohio State) vs. No. 10 (Arkansas)
would be a great matchup," he said.
Arkansas Sports Information
Director Rick Schaeffer said the
school sent out cards to season ticket
holders about the option of buying
tickets to the SEC championship game
or a bowl. Responses indicated the
sale of 11,000 bowl tickets, he said.
Some said yes, thinking Arkansas
would play in the Cotton Bowl in
Dallas. It's possible some of those
people won't go to Orlando, but some
new fans will make the trip to the
Citrus Bowl because of the various
entertainment opportunities in the,
area.
To make a good impression,
Arkansas needs to bring lots of fans to
Orlando
Since the Citrus made an agree-
ment with the SEC in 1992, the bowl
has attracted the conference's elite -
Tennessee three times, Florida once,
Georgia once and Alabama once.
After the BCS is set, the Citrus has
first pick of the SEC teams and the
league has nothing to do with the
selection, Schaeffer said.
AP PHOTO
Tennessee misses the Fiesta Bowl - either by losing to Mississippi State or by failing to beat the Bulldogs by a sufficiently
ressive margin - the Vols will likely head to the Sugar Bowl.
intrasquad on-ramp for
est of gymnasts' season
By Chris Grandstaff
daily Sports Writer
The long road to the sucess begins on Friday
for the Michigan men's gymnastics team, when
the Wolverines will vault, flip, swing and roll
into the 1999 season as they compete at the
Maize and Blue Intrasquad at Cliff Keen Arena.
The Wolverines will be looking to improve on
last season's 8-12 record, a record that included
trip to Amherst, Mass., for the NCAA East
Regional, where they finished fifth.
The Maize and Blue Intrasquad will be "a
good chance to see how people work under the
pressure of competition," Michigan coach Kurt
Golder said.
One thing Golder does not need to worry
about is his pressure-tested duo of junior Jose
"LaLo" Haro and sophomore Justin Toman.
Haro's list of accolades includes five national
bampionships as well as two trips to the World
ampionships.
Toman's resume is nothing to scoff at either.
He just returned from competing in Acapulco,
Mexico, for the U.S. National Team, where he
received a bronze medal.
"It's quite rewarding to work towards and
accomplish such a long-time childhood goal,"
Toman said. "It is also an honor to compete at
this level."
Haro and Toman - along with sophomore
Kevin Roulston - "are the keys to this year's
team," Golder said.
Roulston completed a successful freshman
campaign last season by winning Big Ten fresh-
man of the year honors. This summer, Roulston
just missed qualifying for the U.S. National
Team along with Toman.
The Wolverines' talented roster has them
ninth in the preseason polls, but Golder said he
expects his team to "greatly exceed" their rank-
ing.
"Our goal is to be one of the three teams that
compete for the national championship."
The highway to success will not be easy, how-
ever, as the Wolverines compete in "without
question the toughest conference in the coun-
try," Golder said. "All six of the teams that com-
peted at last year's East Regional were from the
Big Ten."
"Friday night, we're going to see if we're
heading down the right road"
With Roulston, "LaLo" Haro and Toman as
the keys to the team, the Wolverines hope the
road they start down Friday leads to Lincoln,
Nebraska - home of this year's NCAA
Championships.
Jose Haro, more
commonly known
as "Lalo," starts
his junior season
this weekend
when the
Wolverines hold
an Intrasquad
meet at Cliff
Keen Arena.
WARREN ZINN/Daily
Ferentz replaces Fry, returns
home as new Iowa coach
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -
Baltimore Ravens assistant coach Kirk
Ferentz, a former assistant at Iowa
ender Hayden Fry, was named
sterday to succeed his mentor.
"Having spent a lot of time out
tAere, I really have a love for that area
and those people, no question about it,"
Ferentz said at the Ravens' practice
facility in Owings Mills, Md., before
the announcement was made.
Ferentz, will replace Fry, who retired
Nov. 23 after 20 years with the
Hawkeyes. He will be introduced at a
news conference in Iowa City tonight.
Ferentz, the Ravens' offensive line
ch and the assistant head coach for
Tense, was an assistant under Fry
from 1981 to 1989 before leaving to
.become head coach at Maine.
"I am simply elated that one of my
former coaches and a member of the
Hawkeye family will be coming on
board," Fry said. "Kirk is very intelli-
gent, very knowledgeable, an outstand-
ing teacher and an individual who will
be an outstanding representative of
a football and the University of
Iowa."
- Ferentz moved to the top of the short
list of candidates after Bob Stoops,
who played for Fry on the Hawkeyes'
1981 Rose Bowl team, accepted the
head coaching job at Oklahoma hours
after interviewing with Iowa on
AP PHOTO
Hayden Fry is out as Iowa's coach, and his replacement, Kirk Ferentz, was an
I