6B - Monday, December 4, 2006

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The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Bowl games

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BOWL GAME TEAMS DATE AND TIME WHERE
Poinsettia TCU vs. Northern Illinois Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2006 - 8 P.M. San Diego
Las Vegas BYU vs. Oregon Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006 - 8 P.M. Las Vegas
New Orleans Rice vs. Troy Friday, Dec. 22, 2006 - 8 P.M.- New Orleans
Papajohns.com South Florida vs. East Carolina Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 -1 P.M. Birmingham, Ala.
New Mexico New Mexico vs. San Jose State Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 - 4:30 P.M. Albuquerque, N.M.
Armed Forces Tulsa vs. Utah Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 - 8 P.M. Forth Worth, Texas
Hawaii Arizona State vs. Hawaii Sunday, Dec. 24, 2006 - 8 P.M. Honolulu
Motor City Middle Tennessee State vs. CMU Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006 - 7:30 P.M. Detroit
Emerald Florida State vs. UCLA Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2006 - 8 P.M. San Francisco
Independence Oklahoma State vs. Alabama Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006 - 4:30 P.M. Shreveport, L.A.
Holiday California vs. Texas A&M Thursday, Dec. 38, 2006 - 8 P.M. San Diego
Texas Rutgers vs. Kansas State Thursday, Dec. 28, 2006 - 8 P.M. Houston
Music City Clemson vs. Kentucky Friday, Dec. 29, 2006 -1 P.M. Nashville, Tenn.
Sun Oregon State vs. Missouri Friday, Dec. 39, 2006 - 2 P.M. El Paso, Texas
Liberty Houston vs. South Carolina Friday, Dec. 29, 2006 - 4:30 P.M. Memphis, Tenn.
Insight Texas Tech vs. Minnesota Friday, Dec. 29, 2006 - 7:30 P.M. Tempe, Ariz.
Champs Sport Purdue vs Maryland Friday, Dec. 29, 2006 - 8 P.M. Orlando, Fla.
Meineke Car Care Navy vs. Boston College Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006 -1 P.M. Charlotte, N.C.
Alamo Texas vs. Iowa Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006 - 4:30 P.M. San Antonio
Chick-fil-A Georgia vs. Virginia Tech Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006 - 7:30 P.M. Atlanta
MPC Computers Miami vs. Nevada Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006 - 7:30 P.M. Boise, Idaho
Outback Tennessee vs. Penn State Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 - 11:00 A.M. Tampa, Fla.
Cotton Auburn vs. Nebraska Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 - 11:30 A.M. Dallas
Capital One Arkansas vs. Wisconsin Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 - 1 P.M. Orlando, Fla.
Rose MICHIGAN vs. USC Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 - 5 PM. Pasadena, Calif.
Fiesta Boise State vs. Oklahoma Monday, Jan. 1, 2007 - 8 P.M. Glendale, Ariz.
Orange Louisville vs. Wake Forest Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2007- 8 P.M. Miami
Sugar Notre Dame vs. LSU Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007 - 8 P.M. New Orleans
International Cincinnati vs. Western Michigan Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007 -12 P.M. Toronto
GMAC Ohio vs. Southern Miss Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007 - 8 P.M. Mobile, Ala.
BCS Championship Ohio State vs. Florida Monday, Jan. 8, 2007 - 8 P.M. Glendale, Ariz.

Senior LaMarr Woodley and the rest ofnthe Wolverines are the latest victims of
won't get its rematch against the Buckeyes on a neutral site and instead will face

SINGER
From page 1B
salvos. And powerful salvos they were.
The SEC's color commentator said "it's
hard to wina championship" at least five
times, anot-so-subtle dig at Michigan's
failure to lock up the Big Ten title against
consensus No. I Ohio State on the Buck-
eyes' home turf.
Indeed, for Florida, winning a cham-
pionship was hard. The Gators squad
that failed to beat its last four Division
I-A opponents - all unranked - by more
than a touchdown looked shell-shocked as
Arkansas stormed past them in the third
quarter.
Then, Razorback punt returner Reg-
gie Fish attempted to fielda punt over
his shoulder on a dead sprint at his own
three-yard line. Inevitably, he muffed the
kick, Florida recovered it, and the entire
course of history was altered.
Comfortable that the Gators would
come out on top, Danielson began making
his already-prepared campaign pitch for
Florida in the fourth quarter. The center
of his argument was a handy-dandy chart,
which evaluated Michigan and Florida's
schedules side by side. According to
Danielson, this analysis - which didn't
include margins of victory (Florida's six-
point win over Vanderbilt was rated as a
"push" with M chigan's 20-point victory
over the Commodores) - clearly proved
that Florida was the better team, deserv-
ing of a national title shot.
As Danielsonbeamed his pro-Gator
message to millions of football fans (and
poll voters), elation over the result of the
Southern Cal-UCLA game transformed
into stomach-churning discomfort for
Wolverine fans.
From there, Florida's National Cham-
pionship momentum continued to build.
Television analysts who previously
ignored the Gators as a national title
contender began arguing that Florida
"deserved a shot" against Ohio State after
Michigan "blew" its chance.
With Florida's hype swelling, Michi-
gan coach Lloyd Carr took the high road,
decliningthe opportunity to campaign for
the Wolverines on ESPN's "SportsCenter"
Saturday night. Immediately after hear-
ing Carr's classy statement, Florida coach
Urban Meyer shamelessly continued his

weeks-longpush to get Florida into the
National Championship.
Even the BCS coordinator Mike Slive
- who, by the way, just happens to be
the SEC commissioner - checked his
impartiality at the door to argue for his
conference's Gators.
"I think any team that wins our league
with one loss should have the chance to
play for the national championship," Slive
said.
By mid-afternoon Sunday, Florida's
wave of public backing had become a
tsunami.Voters, who for weeks had con-
sistently picked the Wolverines over the
Gators, suddenly reversed their positions.
Were these voters blown away by Flor-
ida's inconsistent-at-best performance
over Arkansas? If Southern Cal had won,
would Florida have jumped Michigan to
take over the No. 3 spot in the polls?
Fat chance.
Instead, the voters let the media's jab-
bering and Meyer's whining get into their
heads. For dozens of poll voters, figuring
out who really was the second-best team
in the country took a back seat to avoiding
an "unfair" Michigan-Ohio State rematch.
The voters bought the hype. And so
the second-best team in the country must
suffer.
The team that lostby three points to
the nation's best must suffer.
The team that was never really chal-
lenged by its other 11 foes must suffer.
The team that easily beat its common
opponent with Florida must suffer.
The team that played 12 straight weeks
and never really slipped up must suffer.
The better team must suffer.
I know, "suffer" is a strong word when
the Rose Bowl - long the Wolverines'
ultimate goal - is the consolation prize.
And I have a feeling that when it's all
said and done, Michigan will end up in
its rightful place as the No. 2 team in the
country.
But for now, with all the exhilaration,
frustration and crushing disappointment
of the past 36 hours, it's hard for me to
get excited for the "Granddaddy of Them
All."
I'm just hoping that nauseous feeling in
the pit of my stomach subsides bythe time
I board my plane for Los Angeles.
- Singer can be reached at
mattsing@umich.edu.

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THE MICHIGAN DAILY TOP 10 POLL

HURRICANES
From page 1B
Janelle Cooper said. "We're looking at her and saying,
'Well, Jess is being tough, so I might as well be tough
with her.' "
Minnfield's toughness showed with five minutes to
go in the game when she outhustled two Hurricane
players for a loose ball and then found Cooper streaking
down the court for alay-in to extend Michigan's lead to
55-49.
Despite 5-for-12 shooting from the free-throw line
in the game's final two minutes, the Wolverines scored
just enough to secure the victory. The poor free-throw
shooting in the game's late stages were frighteningly
similar to Friday, when the team blew a late lead against
the Irish and shot 4-for-9 at the charity stripe to end the
contest.
But there would be no disappointment for the Wol-
verines this time.
Michigan, 3-0 on the road this season, can continue
its unbeaten streak away from home at Miami (Ohio)
on Wednesday. With a victory, the Wolverines would
eclipse last year's win total.
Even after coming away with a win against a tough
opponent, Burnett said the team must continue to look
ahead to the RedHawks (4-4) rather than celebrate the
big victory.
"The only thing that is important for us at this point
is the nextpractice, and in this case, the next opponent,"
Burnett said.

,. Florma: one .Gstors enjoyea roe null benefis Oran
imperfect system, turning in their best effort of the
season the one night every voter was guaranteed to
be watching, to take the second slot in the BCS.


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for its rival, West Virginia, which beat Rutgers
in thrilling fashion Saturday night to give the
Cardinals the Big East title and a BCS bid.
7. Southern Cal.: When is going to the Rose Bowl a disappoint-
ing season? When you are USC and are used to playing for
national titles for three straight years. Instead USC will face
Michigan in a battle of two teams thatcould have had more.

10- Agburm ThinkAubmrn isar en'tsti 1-
thinin~g about that lass to Georg iaThe Ityss Wi
force the Tigens tw sit back and watch an LU
tEmit atead tpay iztheSgrBw
Also receiving votes: Wake Forest, West Virginia, Arkansas.

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