Washington: First Bowl, Then Poll : Rose Bowl: James warns the Huskies that they must be concerned about Michigan, not Miami.

The Rose Bowl has not produced a national champion since 1979, but that could change today.

With once-beaten Michigan set to challenge unbeaten Washington at 2 p.m. in the Arroyo Seco, the 78th Rose Bowl game is a matchup that may live up to its billing as the Granddaddy of Them All.

“In my mind, it is the bowl game this year,” said Michigan Coach Gary Moeller, who has brought the Wolverines to Pasadena in his second season as the successor to Bo Schembechler.

Depending on the outcome of tonight’s Orange Bowl game, which matches Nebraska against top-ranked Miami, the Rose Bowl winner could wind up with college football’s No. 1 prize.

A national championship would be the first for a Rose Bowl participant since USC was voted No. 1 in the United Press International poll after the 1978 season defeating Michigan, 17-10.

Both Washington and Michigan are poised for a title run.

Washington is tied with Miami for the top spot in the CNN/USA Today poll--both are 11-0--but Washington is ranked No. 2 behind the Hurricanes in the Associated Press poll.

Michigan (10-1) is ranked third in the CNN/USA Today poll, fourth in the AP poll.

Curiously, though, talk of a possible national championship for Washington had threatened to detract from the Rose Bowl.

After the Huskies defeated California on Oct. 19, eliminating their most serious challenger for the Pacific 10 Conference championship, quarterback Billy Joe Hobert suggested that the poll-and-bowl method of determining a national champion was archaic.

“Personally, I hate this system,” Hobert said. “If it was (up to) me, I’d dog the Rose Bowl. I’d find some way to kill that obligation, and I’d go find Florida State or Miami and play for the national championship. I wouldn’t care if we went on probation for it.”

Hobert, after meeting with Husky Coach Don James, apologized for his remarks, but this week he told reporters: “I said what everybody else thought. I was just the only one stupid enough to say it to people who write for newspapers.”

After Washington wrapped up its first unbeaten regular season in 75 years, James suggested that his No. 1 priority during Rose Bowl preparations would be to convince his players that Michigan would be the Huskies’ opponent, not Miami.

He indicated during the last week that the message had been delivered and had registered.

“We understand where we are (in terms of the national race), but the focus has to be on the opponent,” James said. “You have the responsibility to take care of one thing at a time.

“This week, it’s Michigan. We’re bright enough to know that with those national polls, you don’t get too many votes if you lose.”

But if the Huskies win, James said, they deserve no worse than a share of the national title.

A 46-34 winner over Iowa in last year’s Rose Bowl game, Washington has terrorized Pac-10 opponents the last two seasons with a defense that ranks among the nation’s most intimidating.

Led by tackle Steve Emtman, a 6-foot-4, 285-pound junior who won the Outland Trophy, the Lombardi Award and the hearts of NFL scouts from coast to coast, the Huskies ended the regular season ranked second in the nation against the run, third against the pass and second overall.

Only Clemson gave up fewer yards than the Huskies, who allowed an average of 237.1 a game, and only Miami allowed fewer points. The Hurricanes gave up 100, Washington 101.

The Huskies, though, have yet to face a player as dangerous as Michigan wide receiver/kick returner Desmond Howard, winner of the Heisman Trophy.

Howard caught a school-record 19 touchdown passes from his former high school teammate, quarterback Elvis Grbac, who threw a school-record 24 in all while completing a school-record 66.7% of his passes for 1,955 yards.

Michigan passed for 2,122 yards, the second-highest total in school history.

The Wolverines, though, are still predominantly a running team.

With sophomore tailback Ricky Powers averaging 107.9 yards a game, Michigan led the Big Ten in rushing offense, staying on the ground for 246.3 of its school-record average of 439.2 total yards.

All-American Greg Skrepenak, a 6-8, 322-pound tackle, is the best and biggest of Michigan’s offensive linemen and reportedly was not happy when he lost out to Emtman in voting for both the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award.

Washington, averaging 240 yards passing and 231.9 rushing, ranks among the nation’s most balanced offensive teams.

Hobert, who inherited his job as the starting quarterback last spring when the 1991 Rose Bowl player of the game, Mark Brunell, was felled by a knee injury, has a school-record 22 touchdown passes while completing 60.7% of his throws.

All-American split end Mario Bailey, with 62 catches for 1,037 yards and 17 touchdowns, has one more reception and 87 more receiving yards than Howard.

Tailback Beno Bryant, a junior from Dorsey High School, averaged six yards a carry while rushing for 953 yards and eight touchdowns. Today, he will be up against a defense that hasn’t allowed a rushing touchdown since Oct. 19, when Indiana’s Trent Green scored on a one-yard run with 10:27 left in the second quarter of a 24-16 Michigan victory. That’s 22 consecutive quarters without giving up a rushing touchdown.

Led by linebacker Erick Anderson, winner of the Butkus Award, the Wolverines allowed only 23 points in their last five games.

James said Michigan was probably the best team the Huskies had seen in the last two or three seasons.

Moeller said Washington might be the best he had ever seen.

“If we can beat Washington, I will say we are as good as any team in the country,” said Moeller, whose team won its last eight games after losing to Florida State, 51-31, at Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan is a seven-point underdog, “but it’s not like we’re 5-5 going up against an undefeated team,” Moeller said.

He expects a close game.

And why not?

Either of these teams could be the best in college football.