Moeller Got Early Education in Politics of Big Ten Football

Gary Moeller made it to the Rose Bowl several times as an assistant to former Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler.

And now, in his second season as Schembechler’s successor, he has led the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl as their head coach.

But Moeller never made it as a player, and it still rankles him.

In 1961, Moeller was a center and linebacker on an Ohio State team that was 8-0-1, won the Big Ten championship and finished second behind Alabama in both wire service polls--but never made it to Pasadena to play UCLA.

The school’s Faculty Council voted to decline a bid.

Jack Fullen, longtime secretary of the Ohio State Alumni Assn. and an outspoken critic of postseason play, believed that the Rose Bowl was too commercial and that football was overemphasized, according to the book, “100 Years of Ohio State Football.”

Fullen lobbied against the Buckeyes’ participation in the Rose Bowl, saying that the Faculty Council should show that it was more interested in education than in athletic prominence.

The Rose Bowl invitation was declined by a 28-25 vote, sparking riots in Columbus, Ohio, and a bitter feud between Fullen and Buckeye Coach Woody Hayes.

Moeller hasn’t forgotten.

“I feel cheated,” he said.

Trivia time: Which Big Ten team accepted a bid to the 1962 Rose Bowl game after Ohio State declined?

Bowl drive or nose dive? Illinois, which will play UCLA in the John Hancock Bowl on New Year’s Eve, lost four of its last six games, including defeats against Northwestern and Michigan State, both of which ended the season 3-8.

Rebels roused: After Nevada Las Vegas rolled over Louisiana State, 76-55, Saturday night at Las Vegas, LSU Coach Dale Brown said his team had been ambushed.

“I had told our coaching staff that this was their Big West tournament, this was their NCAA playoffs and this was their Final Four,” Brown said of the Rebels, who are ineligible for postseason play because of NCAA sanctions. “You could see the intensity in their eyes.”

Brown was impressed.

“They’re a damn good basketball team,” he said. “This is a top-20 team. They will not lose at home, and they’ll probably win their league handily.”

UCLA Longhorns: Texas newspapers have listed no fewer than 14 possible successors to former Texas football Coach David McWilliams, including UCLA’s Terry Donahue.

Donahue is no stranger in the Lone Star State.

UCLA’s roster includes 13 Texans, among them three of the Bruins’ best players--quarterback Tommy Maddox, tailback Kevin Williams and linebacker James Malone.

Trivia answer: Minnesota, which defeated UCLA, 21-3, to complete an 8-2 season, and hasn’t been to the Rose Bowl since.

Quotebook: Dan Fouts, CBS-TV commentator, on quarterback Steve Bono of the San Francisco 49ers, who passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns Sunday in a 38-24 victory over the New Orleans Saints: “Now when Mrs. Bono tries to cash a check at the supermarket, nobody is going to say, ‘Are you related to Sonny?’ ”