/ S Wolverine fans re- w Her tell Game viewing pro( experiences:sec BACKPAGE 6B THE MICHIGAN DAILY man shares duction of Bo tion SM COLUMN 2B michigandaily.com Monday, November 20, 2006 MICHIGAN 39 SECOND TO NE ABOVE: The Wolverines dejectedly walk off the field following their disheartening 42-39 loss at the hands of No.1 Ohio State. BELOW: The Ohio State players celebrate in the midst of all their fans, who stormed the field following the win. Game was good, but OSU was better Blue stays COLUMBUS - Championship game, just one of S ome way, somehow, The the many incentives on the line Game lived up to all of the Saturday afternoon. hype. There were bragging rights, The two teams that met in the something the Buckeyes have newly sodded Ohio Stadium were claimed for nearly the entire Jim clearly the top two squads in the Tressel era. The Buckeye coach nation. now holds a 5-1 advantage over Michigan and Ohio Michigan. State fought until the very And of course, there end, with the Wolverines were the other prizes on exchanging blow after the line. When you factor blow with the nation's in a Big Ten title and a top-ranked team. Heisman trophy for quar- But as clear as it was terback Troy Smith, I'd that the two were the 1 say the Buckeye faithful cream of the NCAA crop, left their stadium with a it was even more trans- SCOTT little more than just large parent who the better of BELL patches of sod. those teams was. Michigan? Well, they Scarlet-and-gray clad Too Soon? left Columbus with the students walked away dubious task of having to after storming the field play the waiting game. with much, much more than just Will there be a rematch? Should the 10-yard chunks of grass they there be a rematch? Is a rematch grabbed in the post-game celebra- fair? tion. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr There was a trip to the National See BELL, Page 3B ICE HOCKEY Road to victory starts ln Bi a By AMBER COLVIN the Spartans." Daily Sports Writer Ferris State Friday night? A hard- fought 3-2 win. Check. BIG RAPIDS - The No. 8 Michi- Ferris State Saturday night? An gan hockey team's to-do list for the authoritative 5-1 rout. Check. current stretch reads something And on the subject of lists, this like this: Fer- weekend's games brought a string ris State, Fer- MICHIGAN 5 of accomplishments for Michigan ris State, No. FERRIS ST. 1 (6-2-0 CCHA, 9-3-0 overall): a 4 Michigan five-game win streak, the first road State, No. 14 MICHIGAN 3 sweep of the season and the first Wisconsin, No. FERRIS ST. 2 win at Ewigleben Ice Arena since 1 Minnesota. Nov. 30, 2001. After this weekend, the Wol- "I think everybody's confidence verines can get out their pens, do a level is way up," sophomore goal- little crossing off and say "Bring on See BULLDOGS, Page 3B put in new BCS poll By SCOTT BELL Daily Sports Editor This weekend, Michigan debunked the myth that a late-season loss must be deadly. Even though the Wolverines lost their regu- lar-season finale 41-38 to No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday, they still are in the hunt for a berth to the National Championship game. Michigan stayed put as the No. 2 team in the BCS standings, which were released on Sunday. Behind the Wolverines, whose BCS average is .9263, is Southern Cal (.9188). Southern Cal (9-1) plays Notre Dame (No. 5 in the BCS, No. 6 in AP and ESPN/USA Today) on Saturday at home. The Wolverines' regular season is over after finishing with an 11-1 record. Michigan is also still No. 2 in the AP poll, with Southern Cal close behind at No. 3. See BCS, Page 3B Cagers crush Crimson, start 5-0 By DANIEL BROMWICH Daily Sports Writer Tommy Amaker has repeatedly referred to junior Ron Coleman as the "unsung hero" of the Michigan basketball team. But Cole-- man didn't HARVARD 50 produce any- MICHIGAN 82 thing the bas- - ketball bards would bellow about in the team's win last Wednesday over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. So when Friday's game rolled around, the Romulus native came out determined to reclaim his spot as the under-appreciated, below- the-radar role player on the Wol- verine roster. But he didn't stop there. Just two days after tallying just two points and one rebound against the Panthers, Coleman scored 12 first-half points in the 82-50 rout of Harvard en route toa career-high 20-point performance on the night. "I just thought I should come out more aggressive," Coleman said. "I didn't think that I was as aggres- sive (on Wednesday) as I've been in other games. My teammates were getting me the ball at the right times, and I was trying to dribble and take it to the rim." Coleman's performance was the most notable on the team, but the rest of the Wolverines didn't leave him on an island. Four other Wol- verines scored in double figures, and the team shot 60 percent from the field. See CRIMSON, Page AB