Wednesday September 18, 2002 michigandaily.com sportsdesk@umich.edu abe Aftic wni uiI PO)RTrS 9. 'Parit' the ' buzzword in Big Ten ALYSSA WOOD/Daily Michigan's Mike Greenless and his teammates will have to step up this season for the loss of Mike Wisniewski, Mark Pilja and Alan Webb. Depleted Blue tomeet Easter ichigan State By David Horn Daily Sports Editor There was a time not long ago when Michigan and Ohio State ruled the roost of the Big Ten con- ference. The conventional wisdom across the country was that as the Wolverines and Buckeyes go, so goes the conference. This past weekend, the Big Ten looked to make a statement of sorts as many of its mem- bers faced challenging games against nonconfer- ence foes. After some disappointing losses (notably FOOTBALL Michigan's loss to Notre Notebook Dame and Michigan State's trouncing at the hands of Cal- ifornia), it's difficult to argue that the conference passed its "big test," but conference coaches label what is happening as parity. "What's happened is there's so much parity in the game today," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "Not only in the athletes, but in the coaching. I think of my early days as a head coach when there were four or five guys that I thought just did- n't quite grasp it - they didn't understand the dis- cipline and the little things - the nuances that won and lost big games." Other coaches acknowledge the difficulty faced' each week in the Big Ten, but were cautious not to give the nonconference schedule too much weight in determining a team's - or a conference's - actual quality. "When you come out of your non-league sched- ule and go into the conference, it's a different sea- son," Michigan State coach Bobby Williams said. "You can go undefeated in non-league and go into our conference and get wiped out; we've seen that happen here before." ONE IN A MILLION: Nationally, 2002 is being dubbed the "Year of the Quarterback." Nearly every premier team in every premier conference has a guy with NFL written all over him. In the Big Ten, quarterbacks may be a little harder to come by. Currently Penn State's Zack Mills is tops, statistically, in the conference, and has generated a buzz following the Nittany Lions' 40-7 thrashing of Nebraska last Saturday in State College. "Mills has really come and matured as a quar- terback," Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. "We played them very early last year, and you can see at the end of the season how well he was play- By Daniel Bremmer Daily Sports Writer Because the first competitive event of the season for the Michigan men's cross country team is not scored as a team, one might not think it's very important. But don't tell that to Michigan coach Ron Warhurst, who EAST L expects his team to run Who: No. 28 well no matter what the No. 12 Eastei circumstances. and No. 14 M So when the team com- When: 2 p.m. petes in the Michigan Latest: After State Open on Friday, look ed by graduat for the Wolverines to come loss of Alan W out with a bang. gan looks for "It's a good gauge to see first race. where we stand in compar- ison with other teams," Warhurst said. Slowing Michigan's progress has been some key losses from last season. Alan Webb, who left college to turn professional, was the Wolverines' top 'M' favored for another CCHA title By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Writer DETROIT - For Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson, this was one of the toughest decisions he had to make. Who was going to start the sea- son as the No. 1 guy? No, not in net, but behind the bench in the CCHA's preseason coaches poll. "As much as we all talk about the polls, I know I changed four times as to who I picked for first place," Berenson said, "and I decided finally to put the pressure on (Michigan State coach) Rick Comley." Though Berenson deferred some of the strain onto Comley's shoulders, eight other coaches decided to give the preseason No. I burden to the Wolverines. Michigan got the most first-place votes in the media poll as well with 39. Michigan State was No. 2 in the identical poll - Northern Michigan, Ohio State and Nebraska- Omaha rounded out the top five. The problem with being ranked high in the CCHA is that it doesn't mean much. Last year, in the first games of the CCHA playoffs, No. 12 Lake Superior State defeated No. 1 Michigan and No. 11 Bowling Green took No. 2 Michigan State to over- time. Both Michigan teams prevailed in the three-game series and met up in the finals, but even before that took place, the Wolverines had to outlast No. 7 Ohio State in overtime of the semifinals. With the departures of goalie Ryan Miller at Michigan State and forward Mike Cammalleri and defenseman Mike Komisarek at Michigan - all three regarded to have been among the best in the nation at their respec- tiv.P -_ tirnn .the-Ior is id finisher in all six races he competed in last season. In addition, seniors Mike Wisniewski and Mark Pilja - two All- Americans lost to graduation - both consistently turned in top marks. After their losses from last year, many other programs are looking at the AP PHOTO Penn State coach Joe Paterno has his Nittany Lions playing like they could win an evenly-matched Big Ten after their blowout victory against Nebraska last Saturday. ANSING Michigan vs. rn Michigan ichigan State Saturday being decimat- ion and the Nebb, Michi- respect in its Wolverines as being in the midst of rebuilding - and as a result, the team has fallen to a national ranking of No. 28 by the United States Cross Country Asso- ciation. Michigan will come out on Friday looking to regain respect against national powers Nos. 12 Eastern Michigan and 14 Michigan State. Warhurst thinks his team ing, and I think he's picked up and improved even since then." Mills, a sophomore, has thrown for 227 yards per game and has not thrown an interception. He has moved his offense effectively and efficiently,, and has gotten even his own coach to not just join in the hype, but to tailor his offense toward an aggressive style of play. "Mills is an excellent quarterback," Paterno said. "He's an excellent leader and a tough kid. You're willing to do some things that you wouldn't be willing to do with a kid with less judgement.... Some things happen in games that you can't script in practice, and Mills reacts well to those things." The athleticism Mills showed last Saturday is the main cause of concern for opposing teams. "Zack Mills' versatility is tremendous - how he's able to be both a good passer and a good run- ner," Williams said. "They mix it up, and kept Nebraska off balance. It was an incredible per- formance." COUGAR KILLER: After leading his team to a thor- ough defeat of No. 10 Washington State, Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. Clarett, a true freshman, rushed for 230 yards and scored twice. He is averaging 157 yards per game and has scored six touchdowns in three games this season. But Clarett suffered a small injury to his knee in the first half against Washington State. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel reported yesterday that his star running back is questionable for this Saturday's game against Cincinnati. is capable of surprising its opponents. "I think we're better than 28th in the country, but we'll have to wait and see," he said. See SPARTANS,.Page 11 DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Despite not having standout Mike Cammalleri, Michigan still picked to finish ahead of Michigan State and atop-the CCHA. r Learn about our outstanding student services and programs in Argentina, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, and Scotland Thursday, September 19,2002 Information Table 10:00 aam. -2:00 pin.