, 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. 6 0 3j 2 0catin.com ,'* StudentUniverse.com I 6