2B - January 6, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0
2B - January 6, 2010 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Big Ten had its
coming-out party
this bowl season
'm sure I'm not the only
one around Ann Arbor who
felt, well, empty during this
holiday season, watching teams
like East Carolina, Middle Ten-
nessee State and Idaho (Seriously,
Idaho?) play in fluffy bowl games
while Michi-
gan couldn't
even muster
a spot in the
Little Caesar's
Pizza, Pizza
Bowl.
Without a
direct vested
interest for the ANDY
second con- REID
secutive bowl
season (rooting
against The Vest doesn't count),
the games felta little stale, boring
and unnecessary. Don't get me
wrong, I watched almost every
one, but you know what I mean.
I didn't even have much hope
for the whole "rooting for the
Big Ten" route, as the conference
gave me almost no hope of remote
competitiveness after finishing
1-6 in postseason play last year, a
record so bad you'd almost think
the Big Ten was intentionally try-
ing to embarrass itself.
But then Wisconsin dominated
Miami (Fla.) in a game that was
much more lopsided than its
20-14 score would lead you to
believe. Then, Northwestern nar-
rowly fell to Auburn in overtime
in the Outback Bowl, despite five
ridiculous interceptions from
quarterback Mike Kafka, includ-
ing two at the goal line, and a
kicker who seemingly did not
understand the ultimate goal of
placekicking.
The Outback Bowl's sideline
reporter said Northwestern coach
Pat Fitzgerald told his team in the
fourth quarter that "We're still in
this, even though we're playing
with 10 men on offense - our QB
is playing for the other team!" and
the Wildcats still almost pulled
it out.
Then, Penn State beat LSU in
the trenches. And That Team
Which Shall Remain Nameless
claimed the conference's first
Rose Bowl Championship since
the 1999-2000 season. (A fact
which still boggles my mind, see-
ing as how the Big Ten helped
create the "Grand Daddy Of Them
All").
And Iowa won the Orange
Bowl 24-14 last night. Georgia
Tech's spread-triple-option-type
offense is incredibly hard to scout
against (just ask Clemson), and
the Hawkeyes should get major,
major props for its pregame
preparation.
Wait - the lowly Big Ten play-
ing well in the BCS - the same
conference which hadn't won on
the nation's big stage since the
2004-05 season? Wow.
But the most impressive per-
formance may have been in a los-
ing effort - Michigan State and
its Big Ten-worst pass defense
(sans starting cornerback Chris
L. Rucker and a slew of frat-boy-
pounding players after being sus-
pended for an on-campus brawl)
lost a heartbreaker to pass-happy
Texas Tech, a game which I had
written off as an inevitable blow-
out, with or without coach Mike
Leach.
All told, the conference fin-
ished 4-3 in bowls, with a terrific
showing in the Bowl Champion-
ship Series. It doesn't sound all
that spectacular, but it's some-
what of a remarkable turnaround
from a near-disastrous output 12
months ago.
The Big Ten finally - after
what seems like a football eter-
nity - has taken back some of the
credibility it lost when Southern
Cal decided to make idiots out
of any Midwesterner who dared
travel to Pasadena in January
during a depressing eight-year
span. And a wholly unexpected
2-0 mark in the BCS should cer-
tainly turn the nation's collective
head toward the Great Lakes.
I don't think anyone saw this
kind of collective performance
coming (especially ESPN colum-
nist Pat Forde, who predicted
a second straight 1-6 record for
the Big Ten). So it was a pleasant
surprise for Big Ten fans - and it
should be, even for the fans of the
four teams that missed out on the
postseason this time around.
I don't know if this will have
any long-lasting effects, but it's
gotta feel nice for Big Ten com-
missioner Jim Delany and the rest
of the conference to stifle the rest
of the nation - at least for one
offseason.
- Reid can be reached at
andyreid@umich.edu.
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ARItL BOND/Daily
Junior forward Scooter Vaughan gets stepped by Michigan Tech goalie Josh tobinson in the Great Lakos Inoitational's third-place game or Dec. 30.
Goaltending, offense',lead
tdisappoi ntmen.t inGL
By MARK BURNS Michigan to a much-needed 5-3
Daily Sports Writer victory.
With Hogan in net, Wolverine
DETROIT - Last season, the freshman Lindsay Sparks netted
Michigan hockey team stumbled the first power play marker of the
into the Great Lakes Invitational afternoon - his first goal of the
with a sub-par 11-7 record, having season - in the opening period.
lost to CCHA basement dwellers Michigan looked to increase its
Northern Michigan and Western lead on the power play again in
Michigan. the middle frame when it saw four
But that was all forgotten after man-advantages, capitalizing on
the 10th-ranked Wolverines won two of them.
their second straight GLI Cham- After Michigan Tech (2-12-0
pionship over Michigan State and WCHA, 3-16 overall) center Brett
used the tournament as a spring- Olson took a high sticking penalty
board for the rest of the season, with Michigan leading 2-1, junior
winning 13 of their final 16 regu- forward Matt Rust gathered the
lar-season games. puck amidst a scrum in front of
The 45th Annual GLI proved the net and put home a wrist shot
to be a role reversal from last year to help the Wolverines secure a
as the unranked Wolverines lost split in Detroit.
their opening-round contest to The power play has been incon-
underdog Rensselaer Polytech- sistent all year for the Wolverines.
nic last week, 4-3. The loss to the They have failed to generate much
Engineers placed the Wolverines traffic in front of opposing goal-
in the third-place game against ies. Nor have they found quality
Michigan Tech, for the first time scoring opportunities. Currently,
since 2005. Michigan's power play sits in
Against Michigan Tech, goal- ninth place in the conference, so
ie Bryan Hogan, who had been it has been a work in progress all
benched against RPI, backstopped year.
"We had the puck under control
for much of the power play and
moved it pretty well." Berenson
said. "We got some good scor-
ing opportunities, but it's still an
issue."
Michigan went just one-for-
eight with the man advantage
against RPI, but against the Hus-
kies, the Wolverines scored a sea-
son-high three power play goals.
And if the Wolverines expect to
make a second-half run at a top-
four spot in the CCHA, they'll
need their power play to be click-
ing on all cylinders - something it
has rarely done this year.
The disappointment hung heav-
ily from Tuesday's loss.
"It's tough waking up on
(Wednesday) morning and know-
ing you're playing in the consola-
tion game for third place," Rust
said. "But we're trying to get a bid
into the NCAA Tournament."
"It's not good obviously to lose
(against RPI)," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "We came here
to get in the Championship game,
number one, and to try and get our
name up on that banner, again.
That's why everyone comes here.
But we had something to prove,
and we didn't quite prove it."
Missed scoring opportunities
seemed tobe commonplace for the
Wolverines against the Engineers
as Michigan pelted RPI goaltender
Allen York with 46 shots. Unfor-
tunately for Michigan, just three
found their way into the back of
the net.
According to junior forward
Carl Hagelin, though, it was the
defensive side of the redline that
cost the Wolverines (10-10 overall,
5-7 CCHA) a chance at a rematch
with intrastate rival Michigan
State in the championship game.
"It all comes down to how many
goals you let up," he said. "Every-
one is so defensive-minded. If
you don't take care of your own
end, you're not going to win any
games."
Between netminders Bryan
Hogan and Shawn Hunwick -who
replaced Hogan after the second
period - they surrendered four
goals on 13 shots, a statistical line
that warrants some concern from
behind the Wolverine bench.
AUERBACH
From page 1B
No. 15 team playing out there.
Without junior sensation Evan
Turner (back injury), Ohio State
isn't a top-25 squad. He's not gone
for the season, so the Buckeyes
will soon be a viable threat again
- but for now, Ohio State isn't
that good. Want proof? Just look
at its 22-point loss to Wisconsin
three days before it played Michi-
gan.
And though it might cheer
Wolverine fans to see the Buck-
eyes' 0-2 start in conference play,
Michigan's 1-1 mark raises plenty
of concerns of its own.
The Wolverines played down
to Indiana's level on Dec. 31, and
then let the Hoosiers run away
with the game down the stretch.
The same thing happened with
Utah, and even Boston College.
BUCKEYES
From page 1B
of the afternoon. Michigan had an
answer for everything Ohio State
threw at it, and for each answer, the
Wolverines threw a little something
of their own.
In the first half, the two teams
played each other to a tee, finish-
ing with nearly identical statistics
- both teams shot about 50 percent
from the field and about 40 percent
from beyond the arc. Michigan had
14 rebounds, Ohio State 15. They
even both attempted just three free
throws.
"Our defense today, holdingthem
to those percentages," Michigan
coach John Beilein said. "Just doing
a better job on (Ohio State junior)
David (Lighty) was huge. They've
I promise you, Michigan's roster
boasts more talent than those
three teams. But the Wolverines
weren't playing their best - they
played slightly below their oppo-
nents' best. Michigan fans can
call these games whatever they
want, but here's how the NCAA
Tournament committee will
see them: bad loss, bad loss and
(drumroll, please ...) bad loss.
Michigan showed flashes of
brilliance against the nation's
best team, Kansas, and the Wol-
verines played their best game
of the season against the 15th-
ranked Buckeyes. Again, these
games weren't flukes. Michigan
simply played up to its competi-
tion's level.
This rollercoaster play - on
obvious display in the Wolver-
ines' first two Big Ten games -
should be a concern heading into
the rest of the conference season.
The Big Ten isn't nearly as
got some very innovative ways of
gettingthem jumpshots."
And after halftime, Harris and
Sims made their superstar statuses
clear to the Buckeyes.
Michigan'stwobest players came
alive in the second half, combining
for 31 points while shooting 13-17
from the floor. Their second half
performance allowed Michigan to
hold off Ohio State for the win.
"I was just comfortable out
there," Harris said. "I was trying to
make plays, and let everythingcome
to me."
Throughout this season, Michi-
gan has failed to score or get a stop
in nearly every critical moment. On
Sunday, the team came through.
There was freshman Darius
Morris's beautiful fadeaway jumper
in the lane to put the Wolverines up
eight midway through the second
good as we all thought heading
into the season. But it's not a
cakewalk. For Michigan, games
on the road against Purdue and
Michigan State are looming.
Northwestern is playing better
than everyone expected. And
Turner will be back soon for Ohio
State.
I'm not trying to belittle Michi-
gan's win on Sunday, I'm really
not. But people must be wary of
placing higher expectations on a
team that floundered under that
kind of burden earlier this season.
Sunday's win may prove to be
the first step up the mountain,
a trip that next goes through
a Happy Valley, and could still
potentially end with a summit
stop at March Madness.
But let's not get too ahead of
ourselves just yet.
- Auerbach can be reached
at naauer@umich edu,
half.
And then there was the energy
freshman Matt Vogrich brought
off the bench, getting two putbacks
in the paint and electrifying the
Crisler crowd with an uncharacter-
istic block from behind.
This season, Michigan has played
beneath their expectations. The
problem hasgonebeyond poor shoot-
ing, beyond poor defense - it is just
bad chemistry. And while a win at
home against an Evan Turner-less
Ohio State is not a season-changing
event, itis a step inthe right direction.
"Anytime you beat Ohio State
at Michigan, especially after last
year when (former Ohio State
center B.J.) Mullens saying they
were going to beat us four years
in a row," Novak said. "That's not
going to happen. It just feels good
getting that win, it was fun."
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ARIEL BOND/Daily
Senior DeShawn Sims (above) and junior Manny Harris scored 52 of Michigan's 73 points in the Wolverines' win over the Buck-
eyes on Sunday.