I Scoreboard. COLLEGE NHL HOCKEY FOOTBALL Buffalo at 123) Georgia Tech at WASHINGTON, inc. CLEMSON, inc. Montreal at NY ISLANDERS, inc. Edmonton at OTTAWA, inc. Florida at PHILADELPHIA, inc. Toronto at CHICAGO, inc. Vancouver at CALGARY, inc. Nashville at LOS ANGELES, inc. Carolina at SAN JOSE, inc. ow Ij£kifm 1&rtl Tracking 'M' teams Check out the Michigan soccer team this weekend. Michigan travels to South Bend to face fifth-ranked Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA tourna- ment. The Wolverines kick off Sunday at 1 p.m. Friday November 13, 1998 10 Big cheese Giant tackle key to tomorrow's first-place battle 0 Peter Vignier and the Michigan bas- / ketball team hoop it up for real tonight in Miami against Florida International. The- Wolverines beat the Golden Panthers at Criler Arena last season. WARREN ZINN/Daily Asselin1, 'M' look to beat the FlU heat I i By Rick Freeman Daily Sports Writer MIAMI - It's already four days after Josh Asselin threw down the Dunk Heard 'Round the World. OK, OK, but calling it the dunk heard 'round Crisler Arena is unfair, too. Sometimes, like just before Asselin slammed -home Athletes in Action, the conversations at the conces- sion stands can be heard 'round Crisler. However far'round it was heard, it's in the past, and if Asselin tries something similar tonight against Florida International in the regular season open- er for the Wolverines, it probably won't work as well, since most of his team- mates downplayed the electrifying effects of the dunk. After the game Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe, in particular, downplayed it. "Josh can do that, last year he was the best dunker on the team," Ellerbe said. "Well, think about it, he's a Division I player - one dribble and he dunked the ball" But what a dunk, right? Asselin "got overplayed, and he left him with one dribble and dunked the ball." End of story. Begin regular season ... This happens tonight, but the regular season worries have already begun. The concerns are not over Florida International's intimidating small for- ward Raja Bell, who averaged 16.6 points a game last season, but simply over the ambush Ellerbe suspects when Michigan enters the arena. "We're going into a very difficult environment .:. that team probably should have been in the NCAA Tournament last year," Ellerbe said. The Golden Panthers, of course, are due to upset someone big this season. Well, maybe not, but they'll have plenty of chances with a killer nonconference schedule including the Wolverines and North Carolina. That's the scheduling philosophy of Florida International coach Marcos 'Shakey' Rodriguez, who has himself said that his schedule is "ridiculous." And Michigan, a team that might be the underdog in most of its games this season, is the 'Bad Guy.'The Wolverines are the big-school, Tournament team from last season, at least as far as Florida International is concerned. And Ellerbe knows it. "They moved the game to 9 o'clock, so you know there's something up their sleeve for us," Ellerbe said. And this time, a big dunk will likely ignite the home crowd against Michigan. This time, it's for keeps. "We'll have to respond under duress, I think for the entire 40 minutes," Ellerbe said. "And we'll find out how we handle that." By Mark Snyder Daily Sports Editor Sitting across a table from Wisconsin offensive lineman Aaron Gibson is comfortable. He's easygo- ing, humorous and quick with a joke. Standing next to him (actually, in his Bunyanesque shadow) is where the shivering starts. Listed at 6-foot-7, 360 pounds, Gibson appears even larger than that in person, filling a room as soon as he enters. His ability to command a presence stems not from his dominant stature, but instead from the reassuring atmosphere he fosters. Making anyone's life easier will not be Gibson's priority tomorrow, however. When the Badgers travel to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines at noon tomorrow, all Gibson's thoughts will focus on protecting the man behind him, not those across the line. Ron Dayne, one of the nation's top tailbacks and no small man himself at 260 pounds, will be looking for huge holes to pound the ball through and, more often than not, such holes emerge following a Gibson pancake. Entering this week, Lloyd Carr's largest concern (literally) was the Wisconsin offensive line. These big boys - who average more than 300 pounds - are the root of the Wisconsin running attack. "I think Wisconsin, as long as Barry (Alvarez) has been there, has been a program that likes a big, strong, physical lineman," Carr said. "Aaron Gibson is something like 360 and was even bigger than that in high school and a lot of teams didn't recruit him. "But what happened was (Wisconsin) got a guy that had a real determination and was willing to work to gain strength and has turned into an absolutely great tackle. They have two guys that will be drafted and Gibson may be the first offensive lineman to be drafted." Such high praise for the opposition is unusual for Carr, but most of his knowledge stems from the fear that the Badger boys are going to eat his defensive front seven alive. Not one of Michigan linebackers is even with- in 100 pounds of Gibson, with Sam Sword as the only one to even tip the scale past 250. The defensive linemen are in an' even worse position. Going toe-to-toe with the dominant O-line of the Badgers is a prospect some of the front four need to get used to - fast. "Technique is going to be the key." rush linebacker James Hall said. "Staving low and using your hands is going to be another key. We need to get below their offensive linemen. We need to stay in our stance and use proper technique." Using strategy to topple the Badgers - who pass about as often as Michigan travels to Hawaii - will be the only out in a game where strength and endurance will be more important than 10-yard curls and but- tonhooks. "We need to practice at a high level this week to prepare us for the inten- sity and physical nature of the Wisconsin game" linebacker Dhani Jones said Monday. "They are the biggest offensive line that I have seen in my life and we need to put 200-per- cent effort toward practice and prepa ration." Even with 200-percent effort; Michigan may not have enough. After all, who could play if Gibson blocks the sun? I 4 0 MARGARET MYERS/Daily Juaquin Feazell and the Michigan defense will have five big obstacles to fight through tomorrow - the Wisconsin offensive linemen. Led by 360-pound Aaron Gibson, the Badgers have rolled to a 9-0 record by controlling the line of scrimmage. BATTLE OF BRA W OK, folks. The big day is -' . tomorrow. By mid-afternoon, the ' 19n a ei D lajai a w.iIl h a Ls 9 Road tu rasadena wi ue much clearer. Will there be more cheese or winged helmets in California on New Year's Day? Only time will tell. ay day awa 'M' hockey hopes to halt two red-hot teams I The +4m nW lUId classified section is currently hiring creative, business-minded freshpersons and sophomores. Interested students can apply at: Students Publications Building 420 Maynard St. Deadline: November 20 By Mark Francescutti Daily Sports Writer Break time has ended. The Michigan hockey team returns to CCHA action tonight against Alaska- Fairbanks (2-4-0 CCHA, 3-5-0 overall) and then tomorrow night in South Bend against the Fighting Irish (5-1-0, 7-1-1). The Wolverines are coming off of a two week break that wasn't much of a break at all. With an unusual mid-season bye, Michigan coaches were unable to hold practice last week. But that didn't stop the Michigan players from holding their own practices, run by the team captains. "Last week was really good for the team;' Bubba Berenzweig said. "We had time to hang out and keep building on coming together as a team." Off-week .activities included a team bowling night, dinner and a trip to Mott Children's Hospital. "It's a great trip," Berenzweig said. "People should do it all the time." The Wolverines will need the extra time to tackle the hot Nanooks tonight, and the Irish, who are even hotter. First on Michigan's hit' list is Fairbanks. For the first time in their pro- gram's history, the Nanooks won a week- end series versus a CCHA opponent, squashing Miami this past weekend. After Michigan went to Alaska and pounded the Nanooks 6-1 and 2-1, Fairbanks would love to return the favor. And the fun doesn't end there for the Wolverines, because 45 minutes after the game tonight, they will take a bus to South Bend to battle the Irish. Sixth-ranked Notre Dame is off to its best start in school history after finishing a successful road trip in the Northeast. The Irish fought to an emotional tie ver- sus No. 2 Boston College, and came back the next night to defeat Northeastern. After a close playoff series loss to Michigan last season, Notre Dame coach Dave Poulin believes that a rivalry is starting to form between the two teams. But he also admitted that the Wolverines have a strong front line, especially with the addition of freshman Mike Comrie. "Comrie adds another strong presence up front;' Poulin said. "This weekend will be a difficult test for us." The biggest news of the week for Michigan was the announcement that defenseman Dave Huntzicker will most likely return to action. After incredibly recovering from a separated shoulder suffered in the game versus Bowling Green on Oct. 30, Huntzicker should play at least one game this weekend. Junior defenseman Sean Peach is still recovering from a recurring lace-bite injury and will not play this weekend. But Peach did say that he has switched back to his old skates, which should speed up the healing process. KELLY MCKINNELL/Daily The Michigan hockey team plays tonight against Alaska-Fairbanks, its first game since a 6-1 home loss to Northern Michigan Halloween night. After facing the 0 Nanooks, the Wolverines will get on a bus and travel to Notre Dame, where they play the first-place Irish tomorrow. HOW ABOUT A I RI # C11R Ie