MEN'S TENNIS: Netters pick up weekend wins over Michigan State and Harvard. PAGE 5B THE SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN: Sharad Mattu wonders why Bill Martin doesn't care about hoops. PAGE 3B DANCE FLOOR: Scott Bell reviews the first weekend of March Madness. PAGE 6B March 20, 010% SPORTSidiigN DaY I lB 2006 CCHA PLAYOFFS Friday's Semifinal Game MICHIGAN STATE 4, Michigan 1 Backi Saturday's Third-Place Game MICIGAN 3, \rt hcrn ihbi'n g in FOOTBALL Additions, subtractions tale of spring practice By Kevin Wright Daily Sports Editor Finish 7-5 at a school with Michigan's tradition for winning, and you're bound to see changes. This off-season has been a busy one for Michi- gan coach Lloyd Carr and the football team, with Carr shaking up his staff. Gone are offensive coordinator Terry Malone and defensive coordinator Jim Herrmann. After a brief flirtation period with the Chicago Bears, last year's defensive backs coach Ron English is now back as defensive coordinator. Ron Lee, who left Wisconsin to join the Wolverines, will fill as sec- ondary coach in Ann Arbor. On the other side of the ball, Mike DeBord moves from special teams coach to offensive coor- dinator, the position he held during Michigan's 1997 National Championship season. The special-teams coordinating position that DeBord vacated will be split up among the assis- tant coaches. DeBord will still coach the punt team, Lee will handle thepunt return team, run- ning backs coach Fred Jackson will lead the kick return team and defensive line coach Steve Strip- ling will handle the kickoff team. "With any change, I think there's great enthusi- asm," Carr said. "Our players are excited. Any time you lose two outstanding coaches, it does create an opportunity for change and new ideas. So, I think it's going to be very good." Saturday, the coaches got a chance to work with the returning Michigan players in the first spring practice of the season. Coming into this spring, Carr and his staff placed a major emphasis on conditioning. Sophomore run- ning back Kevin Grady has exemplified the new goal. Over the winter, Grady dropped about 10 pounds for the 218-frame he's sporting this spring. "Kevin Grady has made great strides," Carr said. "When I look at him today compared to what he was a year ago, I think he's really committed him- self to the conditioning part of it." Carr also stressed the need to return to a more balanced offensive attack. Last season, the Wolver- ines struggled to run the ball efficiently. They mus- tered just 32 yards rushing in their season finale against Ohio State. Even though a healthy Mike Hart will help the Wolverine ground game this sea- son, Carr stressed the importance of establishing the run. "What we need to do offensively, that we didn't do a year ago, is run the football more effectively," Carr said. "If you're going to be successful and play championship football, I think you have to run the football." The Wolverines will also need to improve a defense that gave up too many big plays during the late stages of games. The Michigan defense allowed game-winning drives in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State and Nebraska. "You have to be good against the run, and I think you have to prevent big plays," Carr said. "I want a defense that's not giving up big plays:' Carr said he was pleased with winter condition- ing, but the injury bug dealt the Wolverines a sig- nificant setback. Sophomore Antonio Bass injured his knee while participating in conditioning drills two weeks ago. He stumbled and hurt his knee when he awkwardly planted his foot as he fell. Carr said he doesn't know the extent of the injury but said that Bass would not participate in spring practice. Carr planned to split Bass's time at quarterback and wide receiver this spring. After seeing spot action as quarterback last season, Bass would have bolstered a thin depth chart behind sophomore Chad Henne. Redshirt freshman Jason Forcier is the lone scholarship quarterback on the roster, and fresh- man David Cone will arrive in the fall. RODRIGO GAYA/Daily Chad Kolarik and Wolverines stumbled In Friday night's semifinal game against Michigan State, but rebounded with a 3-2 win in the third-place game against Northern Michigan. Blueheds toNC afterthidtee t r 1da"-place finish By H. Jose Bosch Daily Sports Writer DETROIT - Can you hear that? That's not a rush of air from the bubble bursting. It's the collective sigh of relief all across Wolverine nation. Michigan is in the NCAA Tournament. Following a 3-2 win over Northern Michi- gan in the consolation game of the CCHA Tournament - a bittersweet ending to the weekend after a 4-1 loss to Michigan State on Friday - the 11th-ranked Icers learned they would be traveling to Grand Forks, N.D. for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Michigan's first opponent will be the host, No. 8 North Dakota (the WCHA Conference tournament champion), in a matchup between the No. 2 (North Dakota) and No. 3 seeds in the West regional. The regional also includes No. 1 Minnesota (the regular season WCHA "From day one, I've said we're fortunate to be in the Tournament," said Michigan coach Red Berenson, whose Icers will play in the NCAA Tournament for the 16th straight year. "It doesn't matter to me who we play or where we play. The way the bracketing went down, (our bracket) is probably the toughest chal- lenge of all the brackets." Coming into the weekend, USCHO.com had the Wolverines in its projected NCAA Tournament field, but Michigan still felt it needed at least one win to guarantee itself an at-large bid. They failed to advance to the CCHA Tournament championship game on Friday night but still had third place - and an NCAA Tournament bid - to play for on Saturday against Northern Michigan (14-12-2 CCHA, 22-16-2 overall). Michigan (13-10-5, 21-14-5) outshot the Wildcats 30-18 after the first two periods but entered the third period tied at two. At 8:19 of the third period, alternate captain Matt Hun- wick scored the game-winning tally, his second See CCHA, page 4B champion) and the AHA pion Holy Cross. 'Fighting' Time Michigan faces off against North Dakota Fight- ing Sioux in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For the com- plete bracket, see PAGE 4B. conference cham- Icers need to fill, avoid holes now that it's DETROIT - n the beginning of the year it was inexperience. And once Michigan's 11 freshmen gained some of that, it was dumb penalties, game misconducts or disqualifications. Then, once players had focused their aggression on the puck rather than opposing players, it was the abysmal power play. And when the Wol- verines finally started scoring with the man advantage, it was time for the play- offs and, once more, the freshmen were lacking experience. Michigan coach Red Berenson appro- tourney time "Dutch boy" and a dike during Thursday's CCHA Championship press conference. Every time he, his staff and captains closed off one hole in the wall, another burst open, and it seemed as though the once-mighty Wolverines were back at square one. During Friday's game, that most recent hole - a lack of playoff experience - was evident. Michigan was overmatched for half of the CCHA semifinal game against a Mich- 3 V. igan State team that went on to defeat Miami VD (OH) for the Mason Cup on Saturday night. After scoring the first goal, the Wolverines imploded, allowing the Spartans to score See DOWD, page 4B JAMES Dove James( AP PHOTO priately analyzed the season with the analogy of a 0 MENS BASKETBALL Cagers hope lack of Irish luck continues Churella, Grapplers fall short at NCAAs By Jack Herman Daily Sports Editor NIT game at 7 p.m. The Wolverines (8-8 Big Ten, 19-10 over- all), watched a once-promising season, in which they started 16-3, derailed by an end- By David VandeVusse Daily Sports Writer Ryan Churella was just seconds from perfection. But the senior co-captain caught a an individual national title. But his defeat was not due to a lack of flare. He dropped a 9-8 heartbreaker in a controversial 165-pound final match to defending champion Johny Hen- dricks (Oklahoma State), whose For Michigan and Notre Dame, the end . ,;, I r .. y > > i r,