| Show orts NHL HOCKEY E-- 8 Page Section E Salt fofce Srihune FRIDAY January 2 1998 NFL FOOTBALL Page E-- 6 Does Michigans Rose Win Clinch No 1? Orange Bowl: Huskers Still Have Hope of Taking Title Rose Bowl: Wolverines Tip Feisty Washington State BY MIKE LOPRESTI GANNETT NEWS SERVICE The 6 PASADENA Calif Michigan victory was hard close and delivered by the very essence of winning football spectacular defense a poised quarterback fourth quarter ball control The voters will now decide if that was enough They must wait now these 12-- 0 and No 1 Wolverines who moved within sight of their first national championship in 49 years Thursday by holding back Washington State in a tense Rose Bowl They must wait to see if Nebraska matches their unbeaten record tonight in the Orange Bowl and if any voters are swayed by the tight proceedings here that were not settled until the final play with Washington State at the Michigan 2d and Cougar quarterback Ryan Leaf unsuccessfully trying to kill the clock for one last chance d team has ever No won its bowl game and dropped in the rankings But what if Nebras 21-1- ka beats Tennessee by 40? Pushed to the brink Thursday by the Cougars the Wol vermes must wait said quarI have no doubt terback Brian Griese the MVP with three touchdown passes BY BILL FINLEY MIAMI Weve played the toughest schedule in the country by far I ask you is there anything else you want us to do? No doubts safety Marcus Our main goal Ray concurred was to win this game no matter whether it was ugly or pretty I'm not even going to watch the Nebraska game It doesnt matter No doubts agreed losing Coach Mike Price who nearly took down the Wolverines despite losing his 1000-yar- d rushing tailback to injury early in the second period They made the plays they had to make when they had to make them he said Thats the sign of a champion and theyre national champions No doubt about it No matter what happens tomorrow See ROSE BOWL Page UCLA the Consolation Classic the Runnerup Bowl now its probably just another game Michigan took care of that on Thursday 6 winning the Rose Bowl over Washington State most likely wrapping up a national championship that would have been decided tonight at the Orange Bowl had the Wolverines lost Michigans win had to be deflating for No 2 Nebraska which can wind up with its third undefeated season m the last four years yet fail to win the 97 national title No matter the outcome of Friday nights game against No 3 Tennesee it appears just about hopeless for Nebraska Going into Thursdays action Michigan had e votes all but one of the in the AP poll and no No 1 team that won its bowl game has ever dropped out of the top spot in the rankings As far as our team is con- first-plac- Mark J TemliThe Associated Press E-- 3 3 3 Call it what you want 21-1- Michigan's Charles Woodson leaps for an interception in the 6 Rose Bowl win end zone Woodson's Wolverines took a 2 Claims Cotton Bowl at Sugar Florida State Rolls NEW YORK DAILY NEWS cemed we set a number of goals at the start of the season and I dont think any of those are eliminated at this point Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne said following the Rose Bowl Tennessee is going to be a very strong opponent and well just have to see what people think after the game is over But were excited about it and were going to play hard and I think well give a good account of ourselves Perhaps Nebraska's only hope is that it scores a crushing victory over Tennessee which could sway some voters unimpressed by win ThursMichigans day in Pasadena Osborne who recently announced his retirement and will be coaching his final game tonight was hoping that voters would at least wait to see five-poi- See ORANGE BOWL Page E-- 3 Gang of Tough Teams Make For Wild WAC Hoops Race BY STEVE LUHM THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE It should be a fabulous Final Four Not the Final Four scheduled for San Antonio where the NCAA champion will but the WAC mens basbe determined ketball Final Four in Las Vegas which will determine the leagues automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament It has been awhile since the caliber of mens basketball in the WAC has been this high That should translate into a wildly competitive regular season and Vegas-styl- e entertainment during the postseason tournament Imagine a semifinal round including Utah New Mexico Hawaii and TCU Imagine five or six WAC teams getting into the NCAAs It could happen Utah is the undisputed king of the conference The unbeaten Utes are ranked fourth in both major polls though Coach Rick Majerus doesnt believe it Anybody who thinks we're No 4 in the country doesnt own a TV set he said I Were a dont know if were No 24 team trying to find an offensive identity Utah and No 12 New Mexico are the WACs only ranked teams But Hawaii n and Colorado State are close and disappointments UNLV and Fresno State are expected to eventually find high gear The WAC schedule starts next week games including several early-seaso- Saturday do not count in the standings this year The division lineups also have changed MOUNTAIN DIVISION Utah (11-0- ): Inactivity after nice wins over Providence and Wake Forest seemed to dull the Utes who have played only two games since Dec 12 They won both though Oregon State blew a lead and little Wiseonsm-Milwau-ke- e (1-led by six with 18 minutes to go The Rams B Colorado State (10-1- ): scorers from return four double-figure- s last year when they finished 20-- 9 CSU was expected to be good and has turned out that way If the Rams aren't m the same class as Utah or New Mexico they are far better than anyone else m the division The Lobos only UCLA on a floor the Pond in Anaheim Calif Junior center Kenny Thomas has lived up to the preseason hype and New Mexico has a bevy of outside shooters if opponents collapse around him ): B Wyoming The Cowboys have started quickly for rookie Coach Larry not schedule Shyatt But a tissue-sof- t is the likely reaoverwhelming talent son Exhibit A: Wyomings last three wins have come by a combined nine points B New Mexico loss came to ninth-ranke- (9-1- ): d (9-2- See WAC Page Inter-division- E-- 2 Taylorsville Senior Ruiz Making Up for His Late Start in Wrestling BY JAY DREW THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Rick EganThe Salt Lake Tribune Utahs Kristi Rose fights for the basketball against UTEFs Kanequa Chancellor and Brenda Atwood in WAC action Thursday night at the Huntsman Center Utah rolled 70-- 8 for its 10th straight victory to open the season 5 Utah Belts Miners for Perfect 10 to Open WAC BY STE E LLHM B SYU Drops WAC Opener to lobos 2 THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Utah's Julie Krommenhoek missed her first six shots against Texas-E- l Paso Thursday night at the Huntsman Center Not to worry Krommenhoek nailed 12 of her next 15 field goal attempts finished with 29 points and led the Utes to a 70-5- 8 victory over the Miners in the Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division opener for both teams "I thought Id start hitting sooner or later Krommenhoek said But its nice when they finally start falling Asked what went through her mind when Krommenhoek got off to such an icy start Ute Coach Elaine Elliott said I thought Keep shooting Good idea Krommenhoek scored 22 points in the second half when Utah (10-- 0 pulled away from UTEP (5 5 She's not somebody whos going to feel sorry for themselves Elliott said Shes not even the type who ever 1-- 0-- thinks Oh oh This is going to be an off night ' Shes a feel-typ- e shooter and for her to go 40 minutes without ever getthat's just not going ting a good feel to happen Once again Utah point guard Alii Bills provided Krommenhoek with plenty of support She flirted with the in school history second triple-doubl- e Bills had the first one last year by finishing with 15 points nine rebounds and nine assists See UTAH Page E-- 2 The first time she saw one of her sons wrestle Carrie Ruiz sat high in the stands and cried It looked like they were trying to pop each others heads off she said More than 1000 matches later the mother of Taylorsville wrestler Justin Ruiz still gets choked up watching her sons wrestle but for different reasons Tears of fear have been replaced by tears of pride Ruiz a senior is the best high school wrestler in the country in his weight class 189 pounds He didnt even start wrestling until eighth grade Someone had to win all those championships Ruiz said I figured it might as well be me Ruiz won state championships at 189 pounds his sophomore and junior seasons after placing fourth m state as a freshman at 171 pounds He's a heavy favorite to capture his third consecutive state title 4 at the at this years state meet Feb E Center Ruiz signed a national letter of intent in November to wrestle for Nebraska one of the top collegiate programs He also visited Michigan Oklahoma Iowa State and Purdue I fit in at Nebraska said Ruiz the son of a professional horse trainer I felt inside that it would be the best place for me Justin got into wrestling after watching his older brother Brandon wrestle for Taylorsville Brandon won a pair of state championships and is now wrestling for Brigham Young University Justin didn't consider BYU because he is in the same weight class as his brother Going at it on the mat in the basement is tough enough he said 12-1- See RUIZ Page E-- 8 THE BOTTOM LINE College Bowls Rose Bowl 1 Michigan 21 Sugar NBA 8 Wash St Bowl Philadelphia 115 Vancouver 104 16 9 Ohio St 14 4 Florida St 31 Cotton Bowl 20 Texas A&M 23 5 UCLA 29 Citrus Bowl 11 6 Florida 21 Pena St 6 Gator Bowl 7 N Carolina 42 Va Tech 3 Outback Bowl 12 Georgia 33 Wisconsin 6 22 Fla Utah 70 UTEP 58 Top 25 Women 1 -- ORCQ2X 1 (OT) In Action Tonight IHL Hockey: Grizzlies at Houston 6 pm TV Highlights 11 am College Basket-ba- ll Purdue at Minnesota - College Foot1 pm CM ball Peach Bowl: Clemson vs Au- a Water Log: How theyd finish in 50-ya- burn QD 6 p m College Football Orange Bowl: Nebraska vs Tennessee NHL Hockey (TSB) 5:30 pm Avalanche at Sabres u Final Eight' In NFL Time Out ( ESPN) Washington 3 Anaheim 2 Ottawa 0 Boston 0 Toronto 3 Chicago 3 Phoenix 4 Los Angeles 0 New Mexico 67 BYU 64 t Columbia 49 NHL Florida 2 New Jersey Big 5 Women 25 Arkansas 58 Tennessee 88 2 Old Pom 74 6 Texas Tech 71 20 Auburn 70 S Carolina 65 Int 85 B B B B swimming race: sailfish 1st place marlin 2nd place bluefin tuna 3rd place vellowfm tuna 4th place blue shark 5th place bonefish 6th place swordfish 7th place 8th place tarpon 9th place tiger shark Mark Spitz 10th place J ' There are millions of teenagers who can't remember an AFC team winning the Super BowL That's understandable and it would be equally forgivable should they fail a geography question on the subject The last AFC wmner was the Los Angeles Raiders 14 years ago But that doesn't mean this weekend's AFC playoff games should be less interesting than those in the NFC Details J E-- 6 |
