,
DAILY SPORTS BREAKS DOWN THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
2B - November 26, 2007
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
SAID AND HEARD
"There's one team that I really
hate, and that'd be Minnesota.
So it was really good to get out
there and get a win and just
play well against these guys."
- Michigan junior goalie Billy Sauer on how it felt
to beat Minnesota for the first time in his career
KELLEN
RUSSELL
The freshman wrestler went
4-0 at the fifth annual Journey-
men/Brute Northeast Duals
Saturday, as No. 5 Michigan
won three of its four matches.
Russell is now 6-0 in his young
career as a Wolverine.
a
Going bowling,
but where to?
U
MORE ONLINE
at michigandaily.com/thegame
Detroit Free Press
writer Drew Sharp said
Michigan is no longer
an elite program,
putting Texas at the
top of his list. One
Daily staffer thinks
otherwise. Tell us what
you think on our blog,
The Game, at
michigandaily.com.
AP HOTO
1
For those of you who haven't
completely given up on
the season and remember
there's a bowl
season (play-
ers, considering
your recent
bowl record,
this may apply
to you, too),j
you might want
to check this
out. The bowl SCOTT
announce- BELL
ments aren't for
another week,
but I'll do my best to project where
Michigan will end up come Jan.1
(or late December, for that matter).
ROSE BOWL: At the start of
November, a return trip to Pasade-
na seemed like a foregone conclu-
sion. Even if Michigan dropped its
rivalry game to Ohio State, it would
probably get to go to the Rose Bowl
since Ohio State would be National
Championship Game bound. The
two rivals' losses to Wisconsin and
Illinois on the same day put a dent
in that hope, though. Even if Ohio
State slips into the National Cham-
pionship Game with a Missouri
loss next weekend, the Rose Bowl
has no obligation to pick Michigan,
even though the Wolverines tied
for second place and hold the head-
to-head tiebreaker against Illinois.
Translation: Don't hold your
breath. BCS officials aren't drool-
ing over four-loss teams.
LIKELIHOOD: .5-percent chance
CAPITOL ONE BOWL: If Illinois
doesn't sneak into a BCS game, this
is the perfect spot for the Big Ten's
surprise team. The Illini haven't
made a bowl game since the 2002
Sugar Bowl, and their fans should
travel well. Combine that with the
fact that Florida will likely be the
SEC representative in this game,
and the networks and bowl offi-
cials alike will be salivating at the
prospect of Illinois coach Ron Zook
facing off against the team that
fired him just a few short years ago.
If the Illini slip into a BCS bowl,
though, this could be the spot for
Michigan, since Wisconsin has
played here two years ina row and
would almost certainly not be cho-
sen for a third straight time.
LIKELIHOOD: 12-percent chance
OUTBACK BOWL: The Wis-
consin Badgers are the likely
pick for this one. Even though
Michigan had one fewer confer-
ence loss than Wisconsin, the
Badgers beat the Wolverines in
their head-to-head battle. On top
of that, Wisconsin fans have a
much better reputation for travel-
ing to bowl games than Michigan
fans, who only seem to care about
their team when the Wolverines
are playing in a marquee bowl
matchup (see: 2005 Alamo Bowl).
Bowl officials may expect Michi-
gan to draw a little better this
year, though, since it's going to be
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr's final
game roaming the sidelines. But
don't be shocked if the Badgers
jump Michigan to play in the
Big Ten's third New Year's Day
Bowl - I'd be more shocked if
it didn't happen.
LIKELIHOOD:20-percent chance
Senior Mike Hart and the rest of the Michigan Wolverines will have to wait until next Sunday to know where th
ALAMO BOWL: If Wisconsin
jumps Michigan, surely the Wol-
verines will at least make it into
the Big Ten's No. 4 bowl, right?
Well, as Lee Corso would say,
"Not so fast, Michigan fans." The
Wolverines played (well, kind of)
in this bowl just two short years
ago, and their dismal performance
on the field was matched by a
similarly awful turnout by their
fans. Because of this, Penn State
could slip in, which like Wiscon-
sin, seems to travel better to bowl
games than Michigan.
LIKELIHOOD: 32-percent chance
CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL: A
trip to Orlando was what many
people forecasted for the Wol-
verines this year - but that was
for the Capitol One Bowl, not the
Champs Sports Bowl. Michigan
could very well drop to the Big
Ten's fifth bowl spot despite
having the conference's second-
best record this season. It seems
unlikely on paper, but when you
factor in fans' unwillingness to
travel and different matchups cer-
tain bowls want, then this could
be Michigan's most likely desti-
nation. For those hoping to keep
the 2005 Alamo Bowl trip as the
program's biggest disappointment
in recent memory, here's what you
need to cheer for: Lots of Illinois
hype, lots of Lloyd Carr sympathy
and (gasp) an Ohio State berth
into the National Championship
Game. If not, the Wolverines very
well could be Champs Sports
Bowl bound, a destination most
fans would have laughed at three
weeks ago.
LIKELIHOOD: 35-percent chance
MOTOR CITY BOWL/INSIGHT
BOWL: OK, things aren't this
bad. Let's take a step back, realize
we're still Michigan and stamp
a big RESERVED FOR LITTLE
BROTHER on this one.
LIKELIHOOD:.5-percent chance
- Bell can be reached at
scotteb@umich.edu.
-
Flaws revealed in Blue's
first loss under Borseth
By ALEX PROSPERI
Daily Sports Writer
As good as Sunday's 37-point
victory over Belmont at the Van-
derbilt Thanksgiving Tourna-
ment feels for N
the Michigan NOTEBOOK
women's bas-
ketball team, the Wolverines will
learn a lot from Friday's tourna-
ment-opening loss to Iowa State.
Michigan not only lost by
24 points, it set season lows in
five major offensive categories
- including field-goal percent-
age and points scored - and in
rebounds and steals.
"Not hitting shots was a really
big deal," sophomore Krista Phil-
lips said of the team's 35.6 shooting
percentage. "If we're not hitting
shots, we really have to work hard
in the post. We really didn't do
either really well."
Another one of the Wolverines'
problems was containing Cyclone
guard Alison Lacey. The sopho-
more scored 35 points, shooting
13-for-20 from the field and 9-for-
13 from behind the arc.
"She was really good overall,"
Phillips said. "She was really hot
from the 3-point line. We needed
to ice her, but we just couldn't stop
her."
REBOUNDING WELL: Michigan
suffered its first lost Friday, suc-
cumbing to Iowa State just four
games into the season, and Michi-
gan coach Kevin Borseth was con-
cerned howhis team would react.
After losing to the Cyclones, the
Wolverines faced a Belmont team
that finished 23-10 last year. But
the Bruins play in a less competi-
tive conference (Atlantic Sun)than
Iowa State (Big 12).
"Ihad alotofanxietybeforethis
game," Borseth said. "Coming off a
loss, I didn't know how we would
respond."
Fortunately for Borseth, the
Wolverines put that anxiety to
rest.
Michigan shot nearly 50 per-
cent from the field and hit 7-of-
18 3-point attempts. And after
being outrebounded against the
Cyclones, the Wolverines domi-
nated Belmont on the boards, 49-
30.
HELP FROM INSIDE: Statisti-
cally, Michigan's two premier post
players are playing very well.
In the Wolverines' loss to Iowa
State, Krista Phillips matched her
career-high with 21 points.
Thesophomoreis22-for-33from
the field this season and has seven
blocks through five games. TaShia
Walker is averaging 8.4 points and
3.2 rebounds in just 17 minutes of
playing time per game.
But numbers don't tell the whole
story. Phillips and Walker have yet
to find their comfort zone under
the post.
"Between the two of us, we need
to find what works and find a com-
bination of what works and what
doesn't in practice," Phillips said.
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