The first home Big Ten tournament baseball game in nine years for the University of Michigan had to wait another day.

Four tournament games - two on Wednesday and two on Thursday - had been played by the time a fierce evening thunderstorm washed out the Wolverines' matchup with

The teams were scheduled to play today at 10 a.m.,

followed by three more tournament games at Ray Fisher Stadium. More thunderstorms, however, are in the forecast.

Michigan coach Rich Maloney, Minnesota coach John Anderson and a Big Ten official walked the soggy outfield before calling the game off at about 8:15 p.m.

"It's a little disappointing, but this is baseball,'' Maloney said. "This happens sometimes where you get the weather like that. It is what it is.''

The change in schedule meant an early wakeup call for the Wolverines this morning for a 7:15 a.m. breakfast before heading to the ballpark.

No matter what happens against Minnesota, Michigan will play twice today.

Following the first game, Purdue and Northwestern were scheduled for an elimination game at 1 p.m. The winner of that game plays the Minnesota-Michigan loser at

A year ago, the Michigan Wolverines spent their holiday break preparing to play in a second straight Rose Bowl against a nationally ranked opponent.

Next week the 20th-ranked Wolverines will leave for San Antonio, where they will make their first December postseason appearance in 10 years _ well removed from college football's brightest spotlight and well out of the hunt for a national title.

Michigan (7-4) faces Nebraska (7-4) in the Alamo Bowl Dec. 28 and the team is hoping to salvage what, in Michigan football terms, has been a disappointing season that culminated in a 25-21 loss to rival Ohio State in the regular season's final game.

A victory would allow the Wolverines to finish the year on a positive note and avoid becoming the first Michigan team since 1984 to finish a season with five or more losses. Bo Schembechler's 1984 squad finished the year 6-6 after dropping a 24-17 Holiday Bowl decision to Brigham Young.

This year, Michigan accepted an Alamo Bowl invitation after Outback Bowl officials chose to invite Iowa to its Jan. 2 game even though the Wolverines finished with the same record as the Hawkeyes and won the regular-season meeting between the two teams.

"We get what we deserve," sophomore quarterback Chad Henne said Wednesday. "We definitely don't want to go down with a loss. Nobody wants to have five losses. I don't know how long it's been since a team here has had five losses and we don't want to be that team."

Players downplayed Michigan's nine-year January bowl run coming to an end, stressing instead the importance of playing well against Nebraska and laying the foundation for next season.

The last time Michigan failed to earn a January bowl berth came in Lloyd Carr's first year at Michigan when the Wolverines lost to Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl following the 1995 season.

"It still feels the same. It still feels like a January bowl, it's just a couple days early," outside linebacker Pierre Woods said. "Are we disappointed? No. Disappointment is Tennessee. They're not going to a bowl game."

Michigan has practiced three times in preparation for its game with Nebraska and will practice five more times before leaving for San Antonio late next week.

Like his players, Carr expressed excitement in facing Nebraska regardless of the date and location of the bowl game. Michigan has played in each of the last two Rose Bowls, losing to Southern California and Texas.

"It's different because we'll be coming home earlier," Carr said. "But from the standpoint of being able to play a game, it doesn't matter if you're going to play in a parking lot, it doesn't matter where you're going to play. It doesn't matter who's there. It's an opportunity to play."

 
"It's kind of a season in itself," says Ohio State Buckeyes football coach Jim Tressel about the annual season-ending clash with the Michigan Wolverines.

And this year, maybe a post-season, as well.

If 9th ranked Ohio State can escape the "Big House" in Ann Arbor with a victory on Saturday (game time 1 p.m.) and Penn State beats Michigan state, the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions will tie for the Big Ten crown. In that scenario, Penn State wins, because it beat Ohio State earlier in the season.

Should Penn State lose and No. 17 Michigan upend OSU, however, the Wolverines will take the crown (and the top BCS bowl berth) by virtue of having beaten the other two members of what would be a three-way tie.

Despite the disparity in rankings, the Michigan Wolverines are a formidable final obstacle to the Ohio State Buckeyes' title run. Lloyd Carr's team handed Penn State it’s only loss on the final play of the game (a pass from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham) and is just 13 points away from being 9-0.

Sophomore QB Chad Henne, who slipped under the national radar following a slow start, has thrown for 2,033 yards and 19 touchdowns. His favorite target, Jason Avant (70 catches, 900 yards) will be on a lot of All-America teams, and Manningham is a dangerous second option. And finally, RB Mike Hart and DE LaMarr Woodley, two of the Wolverines' top players, will be back this week after recuperating from injuries.

Ohio State will counter with a versatile offense led by QB Troy Smith (1,640 yards, 13 touchdowns) 1,000-yard rusher Antonio Pittman and receiver Dantonio Holmes (42 catches, 781 yards, nine TDs) Two of OSU's linebackers, A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter, will probably be first-team All Big Ten, Hawk first-team All-America.

The game will also match two of the top return men in the college game in Ted Ginn Jr. of Ohio State and Steve Breaston of Michigan.

 

The Alamo Bowl will be the centerpiece for the Nebraska football team’s holiday table.

The Huskers received word Sunday that they would play the Wolverines of Michigan Wolverines on December 28 in San Antonio.

It was a fine end to a weekend which also saw the Texas Longhorns graze upon pastures of plenty as they scattered the Bluffaloes of Colorado with a 70-3 thumping in the Big 12 championship game.

Nebraska and Michigan each take a 7-4 record into their bowl game matchup.

Michigan was 5-3 in the Big Ten in its 11th season under Coach Lloyd Carr. The Wolverines will make their 31st consecutive bowl game appearance, the longest current streak in the nation.

Michigan opened the 2005 season with a 3-3 record, but finished by winning four of its final five games, losing only in the regular-season finale to rival Ohio State.

Among Michigan’s victories was a last-second win over Penn State, the third-ranked Nittany Lions’ only loss of 2005. The Wolverines enter the Alamo Bowl ranked 20th by the Associated Press and 21st in the USA Today Coaches poll.