14 - The Michigan Daily - Monday, August 7, 2006
-SPORTS-
Ohio State,
Big Ten pr
By Stephanie Wright Rules th
Daily Sports Editor NCAA anno
changes desi
CHICAGO - For the third straight of time it ta
season, Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa football gam
occupy the top three spots in the Big Ten one of these r
preseason poll. point of discs
. The only difference this year is which Ten Media D
team is No. 1. The new
For the first time since 2003, Ohio start when t
State will start the play on a firs
season as the favorite surveys cono
to capture the confer- IA onferen
ence crown, thanks itW that the han
in large part to last $ about five mi
year's 10-2 record Michigan
and the big-play abil- cated for me
ity of quarterback of games in t
Troy Smith and wide receiver Ted Ginn conference fi
Jr. Smith was named Preseason Offen- over Michig
sive Player of the Year after a break-out ported spee
2005 campaign in which he threw for would help p
2,282 yards and 16 touchdowns. It was no
The Buckeyes' biggest question mark Carr among
will be their defense, which returns just coaches who
two starters from last season's unit. Even "When yo
so, Ohio State's offensive firepower was of the games
enough to ensure its spot at the top. some things
"I think it's encouraging to all the peo- Carr said. "
ple that care about Ohio State that people committee, s
think highly of us," Ohio State coach Jim The loud
Tressel said. "And granted, we do have change was P
to replace a lot of good folks. ... How
legitimate is it? I don't know if we know
the answer to that. We will find out by the
end of November. But it's always nice to
be mentioned."
After starting back-to-back seasons
as the preseason favorite, Michigan fin-
ished second in the preseason poll this
year. The Wolverines notched a disap-
pointing 7-5 record in 2005, but return
18 starters from last season's under-
achieving squad, the second-highest
total among Big Ten teams.
Iowa came in at No. 3 for the third
straight year. Just the top three teams
in the Big Ten preseason poll were
announced.
The other individual honor went to
Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny,
who was named Preseason Defensive
Player of the Year. Posluszny recorded
116 tackles last season en route to win-
ning the Butkus and Bednarik awards,
which honor the nation's best linebacker
and defensive player, respectively. Uoyd Carr is
We've been supporting the UM BAS
Continued f
Communiy sice1939 "Certainl
reps becaus
position," C
man. "The
Now come more) Jaso
support us! the year ce
advantage t
good things
some progr
will be For
terback to b
DASCOLA BARBERS Another:
3041/2 S. STATE ST. see some re
2" FLOOR back Carlos
734 668 9329 classes last.
.WO)ASCOABARBERS.COM spring prac
WALK-JNSELCOME said he coul
Michigan top
eseason picks
ey are a'changing: The began his opening remarks at Tuesday's
unced in June a list of rule press conference with an impassioned
gned to decrease the amount attack on the new rule. Tiller criticized
kes to complete a college the change as a misguided attempt on the
e. More than a month later, part of the NCAA to make college foot-
ule changes became a major ball more like its NFL counterpart. Tiller
ussion among coaches at Big also claimed that college games are not
Say. on average significantly longer than NFL
ule states that the clock will games.
he ball is marked ready for Although Carr supported the new rule,
st down. Based on results of he indicated that it is just one of many
ducted by several Division- changes that need to be made to speed up
ces, the NCAA estimates the game in a significant way.
ge could shorten games by "I think you're talking about seconds
inutes. right now with regard to the most recent
coach Lloyd Carr has advo- rule change," Carr said.
asures to decrease the length Notes: Big Ten commissioner Jim
he past. At his weekly press Delany confirmed Tuesday that the Big
ollowing last season's win Ten network should be up and running
an State, Carr said he sup- in August 2007. The network will feature
ding up games because it 2,000 hours of original programming
rotect players from injury. each year, including 35 football games,
surprise last week to find and will initially be available via Direc-
the majority of Big Ten TV ... The Big Ten will partner with the
backed the rule change. Champs Sports and Insight Bowls for the
u look at the length of some first time following the 2006 season. The
, it's important to try to do conference cut ties with the Sun Bowl ...
to try to speed the game up," The first ESPN/USA Today Coaches'
That's the intent of the rule Poll was released -Friday and featured
o we'll have to see." four Big Ten teams in the Top 25: No.
est opponent of the rule 1 Ohio State, No. 15 Michigan, No. 17
Purdue coach Joe Tiller who Iowa and No. 19 Penn State. .
FILE PHOTO
Troy Smith and the Buckeyes were ranked preseason No.1 by the Big Ten coaches.
second annual
sec
a e
ct s
Try to find the "Fake ad" in today's paper
and throughout the month.
if you think you have found the ad, e-mail your guess
(with your name and page number of the ad) to:
displayomichigandaily.com (subject: fake ad contest)
Contest sponsored by Papa John's Pizza.
Winner will receive i Free Large Pizza
Winner will be chosen at the end of each month
and will be contacted by e-mail.
e
among the majority of Big Ten coaches who agree with the rule changes.
rom Page 13
y, he's going to get some
e of the numbers at that
arr said of the true fresh-
experience that (sopho-
n Forcier has had over
rtainly gives him a great
here. Jason did some very
in the spring. He's made
ess. My guess would be, it
cier (as the backup quar-
egin the season)."
freshman who will likely
ps in practice is running
Brown. Brown enrolled in
January and went through
tice with the squad. Carr
d possibly see some snaps
at quarterback, and may also bea part
of the kick return game.
Carr also mentioned in his press
conference that true freshman Steve
Schilling could possibly compete for
a starting spot on the offensive line.
Notes: Jerome Jackson, one of the
three Wolverines tied to the deroga-
tory rap song "Measly Penny" last
spring, is on the 2006 Michigan ros-
ter. Carr said he will be a part of the
running game this season. The other
two involved, walk-ons Tyrone Jor-
dan and Landon Smith are also still
with the team ... The first edition of
the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll
was unveiled Friday, with Michigan
slated as No. 15. It is the lowest rank-
ing the Wolverines have started a
season with since 1985.