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.