MASTERS OF THE MAT:
The Michigan wrestling team bests
some of the nation's top teams.
PAGE 2B
IAN HERBERT:
Corporate America does its best
to ruin college football for fans.
PAGE 3B
BOWL-A-PALOOZA:
The Daily previews the four BCS bowl
games and takes a glimpse at the rest.
PAGE 6B
SPORTSMONDAY
December 5, 2005
lB
Varsity to head to San Antonio for bowl
By Stephanie Wright
Daily Sports Editor
For the first time since 1995, the Michigan foot-
ball team will play in a bowl game outside of Flori-
da and Pasadena.
Instead, the Wolverines will make their second
trip to the MasterCard Alamo Bowl - fittingly, the
site of their last non-January postseason contest 10
years ago.
On Dec. 28, Michigan will face Nebraska in the
first matchup between the two schools since con-
troversy surrounded the programs in 1997, when
they split the national championship. Michigan last
played Nebraska in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl.
"The 2005 MasterCard Alamo Bowl will fea-
ture two of the nation's most tradition-rich pro-
grams playing for only the second time in the
last 43 years," said Derrick Fox, president/CEO
of the Alamo Bowl. "We are looking forward to
seeing the Riverwalk covered in Husker red and
Michigan blue with loyal fans on their way to
this year's game."
In its previous Alamo Bowl appearance,
Michigan lost to Texas A&M, 22-20, to conclude
Lloyd Carr's first season as head coach. Despite
the loss, Carr has fond memories of his squad's
last trip to Texas.
"My recollection is that San Antonio is a great
city" Carr said in a teleconference yesterday. "Our
players had a great time."
This year's game will mark the sixth all-time
matchup between the two storied programs. The
last time the Wolverines and Cornhuskers met,
Michigan came away with a 27-23 victory in the
1986 Fiesta Bowl. The Wolverines hold a 3-1-1
advantage in the series.
With the bid, Michigan (5-3 Big Ten, 7-4 overall)
secured its 31st straight appearance in a bowl game
- the longest streak in the nation.
Ranked No. 4 in the preseason Associated Press
poll, Michigan stumbled to a 3-3 record to start the
season, including home losses to both Notre Dame
and Minnesota. But the Wolverines' last-second
win over No. 3 Penn State on Oct. 15 kicked off
a four-game winning streak. That run was halted
when Ohio State beat Michigan two weeks ago,
giving the Wolverines their third loss this season at
Michigan Stadium.
Even so, Carr said he views his squad's midsea-
son turnaround in a positive light.
"Our team had a great end, fought back and
played through adversity," Carr said. "I'm proud
of this team."
On the other side of the ball, Nebraska (4-4 Big
12, 7-4 overall) earned its first bowl game berth
since 2003. Last season, the Cornhuskers failed to
qualify for postseason play for the first time in 35
years. Nebraska finished its season with back-to-
back victories, including a 30-3 win over Colorado
in the final game of the regular season.
Students who want to travel to San Antonio
for the game can go to mgoblue.com to pur-
chase tickets. Orders must be placed by Dec. 9
to qualify for seating.
Michigan 71, NoTE DAME 67
Road Warriors
Maturity,
confidence
propels 'M'
By Kevin Wright
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - Senior Daniel Horton
stood at halfcourt, clapping his hands emphati-
cally as 85 Michigan fans in the upper bowl
of the Joyce Center summed up the feelings
of the Michigan players
on the court with chants
of, "It's great ... to be ... a
Michigan Wolverine."
With a thrilling 71-67 victory on Satur-
day, the Michigan men's basketball team (5-
0) equaled its two road wins from last year.
Unlike previous road games, the Wolverines
came through down the stretch against Notre
Dame on the Irish's home court.
"I think the last couple games (when) we've
kind of had to fight out at the end has shown
how much our team has grown over the past
couple years," senior Graham Brown said. "It
shows how much we're progressing and how
we're going to move forward."
While the momentum swayed back and
forth in the second half, the last sequence of
plays revealed Michigan's newfound maturity.
With the score tied at 67 and just 35 sec-
onds left in the game, the Wolverines had the
ball and an opportunity to win the game. Notre
Dame set up in a 2-3 zone, and Horton calm-
ly took the ball just inside of halfcourt. He
dribbled to his left and lobbed the ball in the
direction of Harris in the corner. The Irish's
Chris Quinn jumped the pass but only got his
fingertips on it. Harris caught the pass off the
deflection just inside the arc in the left corner.
As a Notre Dame defender lunged in the air
at Harris, the junior stroked the game-winning
jumper with 17 seconds left.
"Before going out there to the court on the
last play, Hayes Grooms told me to just be
ready to shoot," Harris said. "I think that Dan-
iel was aware that they were going to try to key
on him also so I just slid to the corner and took
the open shot."
See IRISH, page 5B
CAITLIN KLEIB0ER/Daily
Senior goalie Noah Ruden and the Wolverines couldn't stop Miami.
Icers dejected
aftr osing
ir fourth straight
By Mark Giannotto
Daily Sports Writer
OXFORD - The captains' body language at the end of the third period
told the whole story on Saturday night.
Senior captain Andrew Ebbett and junior alternate captain Matt Hunwick
conferred with referee Brian Aaron about another Michigan penalty, but both
looked despondent while leaning on their sticks.
Senior alternate captain Brandon Kaleniecki left
the bench with his head down looking straight at theM < 3 n
ice, while junior T.J. Hensick skated all alone on the
other side, looking into the crowd with his shoulders
slumped.
And after a weekend like this one, their actions were
justified. Defensive mistakes left the Wolverines searching for answers after
losing 4-3 on Saturday night, allowing Miami (Ohio) to sweep the Wolverines
in the weekend series. Michigan is now on a four-game losing streak for the
first time since the 1988-89 seasons.
"I'm at a loss for words right now," Ebbett said. "This is not Michigan
hockey."
Miscues not characteristic of a Red Berenson-coached team hurt the
Wolverines throughout the game. With the score tied at three apiece in the
third period, Michigan junior defenseman Tim Cook took possession of the
puck behind his own goal and nonchalantly passed it into the center of the*
See REDHAWKS page 4B
WOMEWS BASKETBALL
Michigan solves
zone woes, wins
By Sara Livingston
Daily Sports Writer
As Krista Clement pushed the ball up the court, Maine broke into
a zone-defense, just as it had throughout the game, hoping to shut
the Wolverines down offensively as many other teams had succeed-
ed in doing.
Yet, the Black Bears had no such luck. With no
one able to find a shot and the shot clock winding
down, the Wolverines continued to efficiently
rotate the ball around the perimeter until Clement dished the rock
inside to Kelly Helvey. As the zone drew in to guard Helvey, she
quickly threw the ball out to Ta'Shia Walker, who was standing at
the right wing. Walker hit the three when Maine's zone couldn't
come out fast enough. And with two minutes left in the game, Mich-
igan (3-4) had its biggest lead of the half, going up 67-53.
"We really focused in practice on taking care of the basketball and
wo(rkinlgaginst a 2-3 z7one." Clement said. "In a lot of our tames we
Cagers contain Irish late
By Scott Bell
Daily Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND - When you live by the
three, you die by the three.
On Saturday afternoon, it looked as if the
Notre Dame men's basketball team had gone
from death to life after polar-opposite first
and second halves. But Michigan showed its
own ability to respond time after time with a
perimeter game of its own, producing points
down the stretch without relying solely on the
three. As the 71-67 final score indicated, the
Wolverines proved that even a nearly flawless
3-point shooting half from the Irish didn't
necessarily guarantee victory.
"It was big because we really needed this
win," junior Dion Harris said. "We came in
with the mindset that Notre Dame was going
to play great, and they did."
Notre Dame's great play was eventually
half, Notre Dame wouldn't have even had a
lead to squander.
Coming out of the locker room after a dis-
mal first half in terms of 3-point shooting,
Notre Dame knew it needed a spark. The Irish
were an inexplicable 0-for-10 from beyond
the arc in the first 20 minutes, including 0-
for-5 from its two biggest outside threats -
starting guards Quinn and Colin Falls. While
Falls dropped off the radar screen and didn't
attempt a second-half shot, Quinn did his best
to put the team on his back.
, "Chris Quinn is a bear to try and tackle and han-
dle in terms of trying to guard him on the perim-
eter," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said.
Facing its biggest deficit of the game - a seven-
point Michigan lead five minutes into the second
half - Notre Dame looked to Quinn to jumpstart
a comeback. With just seven seconds left on the
shot clock, Quinn took the inbounds pass. Ignoring
the defender in his face, he calmly sank a 3-pointer
~A'. ~W~'