Nov. 28, 2006
NCAA Men's Soccer
Our men's soccer team had a busy Thanksgiving weekend, traveling to the University of California at Santa Barbara to participate in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division Men's Soccer Championship. Although our team lost 3-2 in a hard-fought battle (before a crowd of 8,000), they had a remarkable run in the NCAA tournament. They won three games in the tournament -- two exciting wins at home and an upset of perennial power and No. 11 seed and seventh-ranked Saint Louis University.
Head coach Tim Lenahan has done a tremendous job in turning around our program. When he was hired in 2001, the team was in the middle of a 35-game losing streak. The program now has been to the NCAA tournament in two of the last three years and has developed into a highly respected program. A number of our seniors deserve special mention. Two years ago, Gerardo Alvarez was among the best players in the Big Ten and led us to the Big Ten championship game and the second round of the NCAA tournament. For the last two years, though, he has battled injuries, and struggled to get back to the level he played at his sophomore year. He continued to work hard, though, and was back to full strength at the end of the season and was the catalyst in our NCAA run. Brad North had a great senior year, earning All Big Ten honors, and also excelled in the NCAA tournament. Goalie Justin Pines had played well for us throughout his career, but, like Alvarez, was limited by injuries. He had played very little this year when Tim decided to insert him as the starter at the end of the regular season. He provided a great spark to the team, and made numerous key saves in the NCAA tournament. Congratulations to Tim, these seniors and the rest of the team on a great season.
BCS Update
Once again, the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is making front-page news, and the Big Ten is in the middle of all the BCS talk this year. When Michigan and Ohio State played on Nov. 18, they were ranked No. 1 and 2 in the BCS rankings, and most people assumed that the loser would be eliminated from consideration for the National Championship game. (This year, for the first time, the National Championship game will not be a traditional bowl game. The National Championship game will be held in Phoenix and hosted by the Fiesta Bowl, one week after the Fiesta Bowl.) However, because the game was so close (a 42-39 Ohio State win), Michigan remained No. 2 in last week's poll. USC leapfrogged Michigan this week, though, by virtue of its convincing win over Notre Dame (a team Michigan beat soundly earlier this year). It appears that Ohio State and USC will play for the National Championship, unless UCLA upsets USC this Saturday. The BCS was designed to create a matchup between the top two teams in the country. In my mind, Michigan has a strong argument that they should be in the championship game. Like USC, they only have one loss, but their loss was on the road to the to the No. 1 team in the country, while USC lost to an unranked team. I think it hurts Big Ten schools that our season ends earlier than other schools, since poll voters are more influenced by recent wins. If USC does get to the championship game, Michigan will likely play in the Rose Bowl, which will benefit the Rose Bowl. The controversy is not all bad for college football, though, as it keeps the sport in the spotlight. Lost in all of this talk, is the fact that the Big Ten had a great season, with three teams in the top of the BCS rankings (Wisconsin is seventh).
Football
I was pleased with the way our football team ended the season, winning two of our last three games and beating Illinois for the fourth straight year to capture the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk trophy. The team obviously endured a lot of adversity this year, and it is a testament to Pat Fitzgerald, his staff and players that they ended the season so strongly. While we were all disappointed that we didn't qualify for a bowl game this year, I am optimistic that our strong finish will give us confidence that will help us for next year.