SP R FSMODY Sports desk: 763-2459 sportsdesk@umich.edu SECTION B I I_ -~'~ ''j~w I Searight not with team in Indiana By Michael Kern Daily Sports Editor BLOOMINGTON - Three Michigan freshmen guards Maurice Searight, Avery Queen, and Bernard Robinson were repri- manded for violation of unspecified team rules before the Michigan basketball team's 72-59 loss to Indiana yesterday. Queen and Robinson sat out the first half. Searight, who was suspended indefi- nitely as of Saturday, did not travel with the team to Indiana. Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said that he was not sure whether Searight would return to play this season. "He is suspended indefinitely and I'll evaluate it each and every day," Ellerbe said. Searight traveled with the team to Penn State last Wednesday but did not play in the game. At the time, it was announced that Searight had the flu. After splitting time evenly at the point guard position with fellow freshman Avery Queen earlier in the season, Searight saw his minutes diminish signif- icantly in the latter portion of the non- conference season. Against Eastern Michigan, Michigan's final non conference game, Searight did not play a single minute. He also played only in the waning moments of the Wolverines' 80-60 Big Ten season-open- ing loss at Purdue. At the time, Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe simply stated that Searight had a lot to learn and that the team was better with Queen on the court. In the last few weeks, Searight had seen his minutes begin to once again increase. Ellerbe was not sure if Queen and Robinson, who CBS Sports reported were benched for showing up late to a practice, had served the length of their punishment or would see further repercussions. Big House could see another contest in the 2001 season By Joe Smith Daily Sports Editor The 110,000 fans that grace Michigan Stadi- um every fall may have another reason to get excited for this upcoming season. There has been some progress made on the possibility of Michigan adding a 12th game onto this year's football schedule, which also would mean a seventh home game. "Michigan had submitted for a preseason exemption contest called the 'Michigan Chari- ties Classic,' said Dennis Poppe, the NCAA senior director of football and baseball. This preseason game would take place before school starts, on August 25th in Michi- gan Stadium, and would not be a part of the student ticket package - having a similar setup to the 1995 Pigskin Classic in which Michigan defeated Virginia, 18-17. The main difference is that the University would sponsor the game, with a specific chari- ty or charities being beneficiaries of the event. But before fans start buying tickets, they must realize the process still has some way to go - Michigan hasn't even contacted any school about being its opponent. Since Michigan's application has been sent in, the NCAA football certification subcom- mittee has reviewed Michigan's and as many as nine other applications. "We made the application simply to get the application process underway, knowing that there had to be some blanks to fill in," said Keith Molin, a former senior associate athletic director who has been working directly with the NCAA on making sure Michigan's applica- tion is accurate, complete, proper and timely. The blanks that needed filling are a $1.5 mil- lion letter of credit, a copy of a lease for the building in which the game will take place and a letter of intent from a potential opponent. Since the University owns Michigan Stadi- um, and Molin said the letter of credit would be a mere formality, that leaves Michigan's potential opponent as the only mystery. "We made the decision not make those types of contacts until we found out that the commit- tee would certify us," Molin said. But after meetings last week, the subcom- mittee gave Michigan "provisional approval" according to Molin - meaning that Michigan now has the go-ahead to discuss pursuing a possible opponent for the game. Molin said it's still a possibility that Michigan might change its mind and decide against host- ing the extra game, and he emphatically stated that no teams have been contacted thus far. "I can tell you under oath, for the record,, See GAME, Page 38 AP PHOTO Michigan's loss to Indiana may put its postseason hopes out of reach. *Suspended 11iWtot BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily The Wolverines couldn't figure out North- em goalie Craig Kowalski on Saturday. Blackout: 'M' falUs to Northern SA Vi i U 1AY h HIN & W D 2. M t fllaA N 0 By Arun Gopal Daily Sports Writer The more things change, the more they stay the same. This adage could easily be the slogan for the Michigan hockey team this season. The opponents change from week to week, but the storyline for the Wolverines never varies - Michi- gan plays a team situated in the lower half of CCHA standings, and Michigan only manages to split the series. The latest chapter in this season- long tale of underachievement was written this past weekend. Northern Michigan - which came to Yost Ice Arena fighting for its' CCHA play- off lives in seventh place - earned a split of the weekend's games with a 2-0 shutout of the Wolverines on Saturday night, thanks to some sti- fling defense and 25 saves from freshman netminder Craig Kowals- ki. Although Michigan (15-6-2 CCHA, 21-8-4 overall)Awas able to See WILDCATS, Page 4B Ellerbe cause oBle three- ueyear demise BLOOMINGTON - The Michigan bas- ketball program has three things going for it right now: sophomore LaVell Blanchard hasn't transferred, football coach Lloyd Carr publicly supported coach Brian Ellerbe and the program, and Rick Pitino hasn't signed a contract to coach UNL or any other school. The Wolverines (3-8 Big Ten, 9-13 overall) are going to miss the postseason for the sec- ond time in the last three years. For them to qualify for the NIT (who ever thought they'd see the day when Michigan is hoping for an NIT bid three years in a row), they'll need to win their next four home games, and either win at No. 3 Michigan State, or win two games at the Big Ten Tournament. Since Michigan will face RAPHY either the Spartans or No. 7 Illinois in the GOODSTEIN second round, its season DAVID KATZ/Daily The football teamn may get one more chance for a Big House victory as a 12th game is under consideration. Slippery beam lets Bulldogs slide by AP iPHOTO chigan forward Chris Young proved to be one o the Wolverines' lone sources of energy. No style points, but Indina h n"A hanl.es cagers By Michael Kern Daily Sports Editor By Naweed Sikora Daily Sports Writer For three events Saturday night, the Michi- gan women's gymnastics team looked like the best in the nation. With a commanding lead over Georgia, the Wolverines were on their way to beating the Bulldogs, the one team that has proven over the years to be a true thorn in their side. But, with everything going their way, Michigan took an unexpected U-turn as it gave away a victory already in its hands. With three consecutive falls on the beam, Michigan opened the door for Georgia's Suzanne Sears, who finished with a 9.975 on the floor exercise to help No. 4 Georgia squeeze past the eighth-ranked Wolverines, 196.675-196.625. Michigan head coach Bev Plocki could not help but feel mixed emotions after the meet. "I am really proud of how the kids came in and approached this meet," Plocki said. "It was our best meet of the season until the end. We just kind of gave it up." The Wolverines began flawlessly on the uneven bars, where five gymnasts posted career-highs. Senior Bridget Knaeble finished first in the event with a personal-best score of 9.975. On the vault, the Wolverines posted three new career-highs and increased their overall lead to over half a point. Michigan continued its dominance on the floor, as it posted four scores of 9.9 or better to pull ahead of Georgia by 1.325. See BEAM, Page 3B On Point is done. That's right, another year of bad basketball on South BLOOMINGTON - Listening to Indiana coach Mike Davis after his team's 72-59 victory over Michigan yesterday, you wouldn't have ICHIGAN 59 thought his team had INDIANA 72 won the game at all. "This was our poorest outing of the whole season;" Davis said. "Our guards didn't hit any shots, and that didn't free anything for us. It's tough to win in a clean fashion when your guards shoot like that." That poor shooting showed early in the first half, Campus. "Anything can happen in Chicago (home of the BTT)," Ellerbe said. "There have been three Big Ten Tournaments and we've won one of them." Anything can happen. But one of two things will happen. At best, Michigan wins its play-in game, and lose in the second round. At worst, and most likely, the Wolverines suffer another embarrassment in East Lansing, and loses in the first round of the BTT. Sound like a third straight year of depress- ing basketball? It is. IF YOU'RE LIKE MOST MICHIGAN STUDENTS, YOU ~ PROBABLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT n WATER POLO. Welcome to the limelight By J. Brady McCollough Daily Sports Writer -< -. What the heck is water polo? The Michigan women's water polo team hopes to provide the answer to that question this spring, as it becomes the University's 25th varsity program. Not only is this the inaugural year for varsity water polo at Michigan, but this is also the sport's first year in the NCAA. The Wolverines are mem- bers of the Eastern Conference, which is comprised Before water polo became an NCAA sport, 16 teams got the opportunity to play for the national title in a playoff, but now just four teams will quali- fy for the NCAA Tournament, making the compe- tition even more fierce. "There's a huge level of competition, and to be one of those four teams - to be able to play in that game during my first year on varsity would be great," junior captain Delia Sonda said. "But we're all just going to work hard - it's all we can do." Water polo features seven players from each t~aty in the wxrt~r qt rnnPutime- Twn o~f whrh n rP nt WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE I C I