2B - December 3, 2012,

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

ThORISMONDA COMN
Noend in sigtfor Big Ten football inferiority

he Michigan football
team's season was book-
ended by losses to two
of the nation's best - No. 2 Ala-
bama and No. 3 Ohio State. The
first came to a close with strains
of'S-E-C, S-E-C' buffeting the
air inside Cowboys Stadium in
Dallas, the second with chants
of 'UN-DE-
FEA-TED' in
Columbus.
But the
defeats
couldn't have
felt any dif-
ferent. The
Wolverines STEPHEN J
walked
away from NESBITT
the Cow-
boys Classic
with a feeling of disbelief after
a 42-14 loss. Man, 'Barra actu-
ally WAS as good as expected.
Against the Buckeyes, a rivalry
game marred by turnovers andF
sloppy play-calling, there was
a feeling that Michigan could
match up just fine with the Big
Ten's best team.
The scale is far from bal- Senior quarte
anced. first time si
Saturday night was embar- of high scht
rassing. As the eyes of the nation I shot a 9
were squared on the instant- that I mana
classic SEC title game between Badgers.
Alabama and Georgia in Atlanta, The Big 1
a wave of dread slowly spread light and th
across Big Ten country. after an SEC
Oh no, when they're done with shadows, hi
this, everyone's going to watch tains and de
us. And they're going to expect a the shower,
footballgame. And now,
In the panic, Nebraska just have time t
decided not to show up. So when bowl season
Wisconsin took a 25-point lead made it ana
midway through the second wipe the flo
quarter, I turned off the TV and counterpart
decided to go bowling for the been close.

ference games.
It's a broken system, and it
plays-out a little differently
every time. Wisconsin has gone
to the Rose Bowl in three con-
secutive seasons, and each time
because of different tiebreaker
regulations. This time, the Bad-
gers leap-frogged ineligibles
Ohio State and Penn State to
earn a Big Ten title game berth
despite going 3-2 in the Leaders
Division.
On Wisconsin, I suppose.
And now on to Michigan.
The Wolverines have a New
Year's Day date with South
Carolina, a second-tier but ever
dangerous SEC team. And, my
oh my, has Michigan struggled
against the SEC of late. In the ,
last two Michigan-SEC match-
ups - the 2011 Gator Bowl
against Mississippi State and
the Cowboys Classic against
Alabama - the Wolverines have
been outscored 94-28.
So Michigan can go ahead
and boast as it did in its Outback
Bowl press release that the Wol-
verines' all-time record against
the SEC is 23-7-1 and that
Michigan is 7-4 in bowl games
against the SEC, but those stats
are almost as outdated as the Big
Ten's style of play.
This isn't to say that Michigan
can't or won't defeat the Game-
cocks in Tampa. Not at all. It
should be a good matchup. But
this won't be the year the scales
tip back to even, especially with
two of the Big Ten's top-five
teams ineligible.
College football belongs to the
SEC. And that doesn't look to be
changing anytime soon.
- Nesbitt can be reached
at stnesbit@umich.edu.

rback Denard Robinson will lead Michigan back to his home state of Florida, where the Wolverines will face South Carolina in the Outback Bowl.

nce sophomore year
ool.
5, rather pleased
ged to outscore the
Ten, given the spot-
e primetime stage
C epic, stayed in the
id behind the cur-
eserved every bit of
of jeers it received.
, before you even
o recover, here comes
n, where the SEC has
annual tradition to
or with its northern
Is. It really hasn't

The SEC has won the last six than time itself - but the Big
national championships. The Ten has won only one Rose Bowl
Big Ten hasn't won since Ohio in the new millennium.
State did in And in case
2002 - thanks Big Ten foot-
to a timely and Given the ball couldn't
controversial get an uglier
pass inter- spotlight the reputation,
ference call po g' Wisconsin will
.- and hasn't Big Ten hid represent the
even played in conference in
the title game behind the Pasendena,
in the last five Calif. as the
seasons. Curtains. first five-loss
There's team to ever
always the compete in the
Rose Bowl, The Grandaddy of Rose Bowl.
'Em All - a bowl game older Yes, the Big Ten is sending

Wisconsin, a team that lost to
Oregon State and Nebraska and
Michigan State and Ohio State
and Penn State this fall. The
Badgers' best regular-season
win was a two-point victory
over Utah State, the pride of the
WAC and the only team over
.500 that Wisconsin beat all
season.
The Badgers don't even
deserve to be on the same field
as Stanford on New Year's Day.
No, actually, they don't. Wiscon-
sin finished third in its division
and stumbled its way into the
Big Ten championship game by
losing three of its final four con-

Changing of the guards gives
quick-dividends for Michigan

By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Editor
PEORIA, Ill. - Thirty-six
minutes from Nik Stauskas and
the first playing time of Caris
LeVert's career sent the mes-
sage loud and clear.
There's a new order at guard
for the Michigan basketball
team.
.Stauskas, the freshman, led
the team with 22 points on four
of five 3-point shooting, propel-
ling the 3rd-ranked Wolverines
to their 74-66 win over Bradley
on Saturday at Carver Arena.
But one man's minutes on the
court are another's off the
court, and senior gualds Matt
Vogrich and Eso Akunne rode
the bench for longer than either
had the whole season.
After spending the first six
games coming off the bench,
Stauskas got his first start,
and it came at the expense of
Vogrich, who played only the
final four minutes of Saturday's
game. Akunne, after playing in
each game this season, sat the
entire time.
And though Stauskas , has
impressed with his offense
- he's now averaging over 14
points and has led the Wolver-
ines in scoring over the last five
games - it was his defense that
prompted Michigan coach John
Beilein to put him in the start-
inglineup.
"He's doing too many other
good things," Beilein said. "If he
hadn't played such good defense
the other night against (North
Carolina State's Scott) Wood,
this wouldn't have happened.
But he's shown he can guard
some people, he's shown he can
get in the lane, he obviously can
shoot."
Though Stauskas's progress
was clear to see, and his spot in
the starting lineup was prob-
ably overdue, LeVert's presence
on the court was a surprise.
The freshman was long consid-
ered to be a redshirt candidate
because of his raw skills, unde-
veloped frame, and the abun-
dance of senior guards on the
roster.
But his talent appeared to be
too overwhelming for Beilein to
keep him stationed on the bench
the entire year.
"Caris, it was one of these
things where we're saying, our

I
4

Junior outside hitter Molly Toon and the Wolverines advance to face Michigan State in the Sweet 16this weekend.
'M' knocks off Louisville

intention is not to just burn
(the redshirt) for two min-
utes a game, but to put him in
there, put him in the top eight
or nine and hopefully he'll play
even more minutes than that,"
Beilein said.
"I loved the way he reacted
to it, and he really wanted to do
it too. If he didn't want to, we
wouldn't have done it. He was
anxious."
The genesis of Beilein's
choice to burn the redshirt
came in Tuesday night's victory.
"I think we saw some things
in the North Carolina State
game where one of his roles will
be, is to be a defensive stopper
out there," Beilein said. "To
really go out and guard some
people."
Beilein also sees it neces-
sary.for LeVert to give junior
guard Tim Hardaway Jr. a
breather. Though Levert only
played seven minutes, grabbing
a rebound and picking up an
assist, Beilein plans to put him
in for Hardaway Jr. more often
to give the Miami native three
or four minutes of rest.
Freshman point guard Spike
Albrecht continues to see time
in order to give Burke a rest, a
situation when Akunne saw
time until Saturday.
Michigan has five seniors,
and none of them played, aside
from Vogrich's four minutes,
perhaps a signal of how Beilein
plans to manage his rotation
down the road.
"You don't want a redshirt

playing two minutes a game,"
Beilein said, referringto LeVert.
"So you gotta take minutes from
somewhere in order to give it to
the young man, but the young
man's proved it and (Vogrich
and Akunne) are ready if we
need them."
In addition to the guards,
Beilein also felt like making
a change in the frontcourt to
accommodate the homecoming
of one of his big men.
Redshirt freshman forward
Max Bielfeldt, who grew up in
Peoria, played a career-high
nine minutes and scored a bas-
ket.
Beilein asked junior cen-
ter Jon Horford, who usually
sees time as the Wolverines'
third post player behind red-
shirt junior Jordan Morgan and
freshman Mitch McGary, to
step back so that Bielfeldt could
shine in front of his friends and
family. Horford was benched
the whole game.
But the gracious move for
Bielfeldt may not just be a one-
time occurrence.
Beilein said that there's a
running competition among the
four big men for playing time,
and that he's still trying to see if
the two-post offense is feasible.
The drawback to that lineup, he
says, is that it forces freshman
forward Glenn Robinson III out
of the lineup or that other play-
ers have to move out of their pri-
mary positions.
"Those four are trying to get
the minutes of three." .

By GREG GARNO kills on eight swings.
Daily Sports Writer Sophomore Lexi Dannemiller,
-------- recognizing the smaller blocker
Michigan coach Mark Rosen from Louisville matching up
stood silently on the sideline with against Toon, often found the hit-
his arms folded, leaning against ter waiting to put the ball down
the scorer's table, watching the and away from the Cardinals.
court. Ahead 18-12, Toon's two kills
The 14th-year head coach capped a-4-0 run that sealed the
knew. first set for Michigan.
He knew that down 24-22 in "Toon is playing great right
the fourth set, with the Michi- now," Rosen said. "But (her)
gan volleyball team struggling to emergence in-the last month has
gain momentum, the Wolverines really been a huge catalyst for us.
would work their way out of the She's been a workhorse for us.
predicament. He knew that for She's getting a ton of kills, she
all of the No. 9 Louisville's excite- made some great defensive plays
ment, there was ateamwaitingto today and she's just a heck of an
take it away. athlete."
Channeling their experi- The veteran coach was pre-
ence from knocking off then No. pared for the Cardinals to come
6 Stanford in the 2011 NCAA back stronger in the second set
Tournament, Michigan defeated after being out-hit in the first.
the tournament-host Cardinals With Michigan leading 16-11 in
in four sets, 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, the middle of the set, Louisville
27-25, to return to the Sweet 16. began a 6-0 run that sucked the
With the victory, the Wolverines energy from the Wolverines. A
earned a third-round berth for 4-1 run later in the set allowed
the sixth time in seven years. the Cardinals to head into the
"I never even thought about locker room tied at a set apiece.
a fifth set," Rosen said. "I felt But the Wolverines quickly
pretty comfortable even though returned to form.
we were down, that the way were The third set progressed slow-
playing, we were playing pretty ly, until Dannemiller began to
well. I felt pretty good about the spread the ball around.With a11-7
way we could come back and win lead built up, Michigan amassed
that set." a 4-0 run, capped by a kill from
Rosen knew that after leading Rosen's lone senior, right-side hit-
their team to victory over Ten- ter Claire McElheny. McElheny
nessee on Thursday night, junior added another kill to stretch the
outside hitters Lexi Erwin and lead to 18-12 before the Wolver-
Molly Toon would once again ines hung on to win the third set.
carry the team's offense. The duo McElheny, a fifth-year senior
combined for 43 kills and over who has been to an NCAA Tour-
half of Michigan's points in dom- nament game every season,
inating fashion. accounted for 12 kills and five
The Wolverines began the first blocks on the night. But more
set tied at nine before using a 5-0 importantly, her experience to
run to pull away. Toon immedi- make the pass whenneeded kept
ately made her presence known . her team calm and confident.
in the first set, accounting for six "I think tonight we were a lot

more balanced," McElheny said.
"They didn't know who to come
after because everyone was on
fire."
Dannemiller, though, was the
driving force behind Michigan's
offense. Falling just two assists
short of her career-high 64, the
Wolverines' passing leader con-
sistentlyfoundtheball. Dannemi-
ller added 16 digs, one behind
team-leader freshman libero Tif-
fany Morales, for her second-con-
secutive double-double.
Neither team was able to set
up momentum in fourth set, as
Louisville clung to its waning
moments of the season. Both
teamstraded pointsuntil the Car-
dinals went on a 4-1 run to take
a 19-14 lead. Michigan fought its
way back, yetfaced a22-24 deficit
and a looming fifth set.
"I think it's really easy to play
to not go to a fifth," Erwin said.
"But I think our mindset kind of
changed when we were playing
to win and not to lose. I think
we just became so much more
aggressive."
But Rosen and the Wolverines
were patient, as Toon quickly set
her feet, leapt and wound up with
three kills as part of a 5-0 run to
win the game.
The late-season surge that
secured a tournament birth, the
one that toppled three ranked
teams, responsible for the growth
of a youngsquad, continued.
"I'm really proud of our team
on how they fought tonight,"
Rosen said.
"A really emotional match.
It came down to a lot of tactical
things, because it was such long
sets. Itshows a lot of character on
our team's part."
When it all was said and done,
Rosen smiled.
After all, he knew.

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