Sports

Poll ranks team No. 1

Internetsoccer.com picked the men's soccer team as No. 1 in its national poll Monday. The Hoosiers had been ranked fifth in last week's poll, before unranked Syracuse upset top-ranked Connecticut 1-0 Saturday. IU (11-3, 5-0 in Big Ten play) defeated unranked Wisconsin 3-1 Friday and Northwestern 4-1 Sunday to claim the regular-season Big Ten title. The defending national champion Hoosiers hadn't been ranked No. 1 since the preseason and fell from the spot after losing the first two games of the season. At that point, IU was unranked.

'Mental' mistakes lead to 58-0 loss

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- It was a microcosm of one of the longest afternoons in the history of Hoosier football. Although the game was over long before the play, the exchange was representative of the problem that plagued IU all afternoon in its 58-0 loss to Michigan Saturday at Michigan Stadium. Just after the Wolverines scored their final points, junior receiver Derin Graham was returning the ensuing kickoff for the Hoosiers (2-4, 1-2 in Big Ten play). Like the team had done all afternoon, Graham hesitated at about the 20-yard line. A split second later, two Michigan players planted Graham before he could get moving again.

Rugby team dominates in tournament opener

Saturday marked the first round of the Midwest Tournament for the men's rugby team. The Hoosiers had to win Saturday -- and two more games -- to make it to the national final four. Win they did, and it was by no small margin. IU defeated Ohio University 61-8 in a game that was almost entirely on the Hoosiers' half of the field.

Around the Game

Senior leads cross country team

Young people are impressionable. So impressionable that when a second grade teacher tells his students to try out for the cross-country team when they reach the sixth grade, they listen. Such is the case with Aaron Gillen, a fifth-year senior.

Weekend sweep boosts Volleyball's Big Ten chances

A stats sheet is a notorious liar. Often its ingredients -- kills, blocks, hitting percentage -- are worth little more than a toss to a trashcan. But anyone keeping tallies of the volleyball team's contests this weekend in an effort to uncover the most tell-tale statistics likely ran out of ink; circling and underlining numbers, which, in this case, told no lies. Instead, the black and white slip of paper turned into the IU volleyball bible for a couple nights in a row. The Hoosiers (12-6, 3-5) used gutsy, consistent play and a solid week of practice to snap a five-game losing streak and turn around their Big Ten season in a heartbeat, pounding Illinois and Purdue.

Cross country team emerges from meet

In a meet like the Pre-NCAA Invitational in Ames, Iowa, Saturday, most teams just try to not get lost in the crowd. The No. 22 men's team emerged from the 53 teams at the meet with a 17th place finish.

Football embarrassed 58-0, Cameron blames self

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There's a lot of words that can be used to describe what happened to IU Saturday against No. 18 Michigan. The Hoosiers were destroyed, embarrassed and shutout by a Wolverine team determined to erase last weekend's disappointing loss at Purdue. Whatever frustrations the Wolverines' had after their loss to the Boilermakers were let loose in their 58-0 victory against the Hoosiers. And whatever frustrations IU (2-4, 1-2 Big Ten) had after its 52-33 loss at Northwestern only increased after getting hammered on national television and before a Homecoming crowd of 110,909 at Michigan Stadium.

No. 2 Hoosiers knock off Wisconsin

Wisconsin, a team that has knocked off top-25 teams this season, worried Coach Jerry Yeagley. He stressed to his men's soccer team that it needed to capitalize off of corner kicks and free kicks in a game that could determine this year's Big Ten champion.

Men's soccer team tops Wildcats

Coach Jerry Yeagley knew before his men's soccer team took the field Sunday that it wasn't ready to play Northwestern.

Women's basketball appears in first Midnight Madness

While the men's basketball team waited patiently inside their locker room, much of the women's team hovered around the floor of Assembly Hall waiting for their first official practice to begin.

Fans support team despite Knight's firing

Freshman guard A.J. Moye rolled on the court laughing as junior forward Kirk Haston struggled from the three-point line. Even interim coach Mike Davis had trouble keeping a straight face as his big man competed against junior guard Heather Cassady in the final round of the three-point contest Saturday morning at Midnight Madness, the first official basketball practice of the season. Cassady outshot Haston 17-12.

Hoosiers please crowd at Midnight Madness

The excitement of Midnight Madness concluded with a flurry of fast breaks, alley-oops and 3-point bombs.

Teammates turned rivals

They played on the same grass field for the last time in 1997, when the men's soccer team lost to UCLA in the NCAA Final Four in Richmond, Va. They left behind a 23-game winning streak crushed by the Bruins in a triple-overtime loss. Chris Klein, went on to a professional soccer career with the Kansas City Wizards after the 1997 campaign. Dema Kovalenko stayed at IU for the 1998 season, when the Hoosiers won their fourth NCAA championship. He then left school a year early and joined the Chicago Fire in 1999.

Around the Game

Fencing club prepares for season, success

The IU Fencing Club is preparing for another year of captivating sword fighting with high expectations for a good season.

Fundenberger's formula: right place, right time

Jet fuel, he says. Jet fuel powered Matt Fundenberger, a senior forward on the men's soccer team, to his third-career hat trick Sunday against Michigan. In a 7-0 victory, Fundenberger showed flashes of quickness, scoring three goals in the first 26 minutes of play and assisting an another.

Losing not an option for Hoosiers' tournament hopes

Members of the women's soccer team said they feel they have played well during the regular season, despite what their record shows.

Women's basketball begins Midnight Madness

For the first time in history, the women's basketball team will be participating in Midnight Madness. In the past, Midnight Madness has kicked-off only the men's basketball season, but this year, it will also signal the start of the women's campaign.

Men's swimming ready to begin season

After six weeks of intense practice, the men's swimming team is preparing for their Intrasquad Scrimmage at 3 p.m. Friday at Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center, coach Kris Kirchner said.