Suddenly, Bloom Is Off the Rose Bowl : College football: Washington’s woes, Michigan’s ties make it a less attractive matchup.

The 1992 Rose Bowl game between Michigan and Washington featured the Heisman Trophy winner, the Outland Trophy winner and a national champion. The 1993 game features, well, No. 7 Michigan and No. 10 Washington.

About a month or so ago, such a matchup looked pretty appealing, but that was before the Huskies lost the No. 1 ranking, lost two of their last three games, before one of their star quarterbacks was declared ineligible for accepting $50,000 in loans and before another player was charged with selling drugs.

Meanwhile, the Wolverines didn’t lose any games, but they did tie three to finish the regular season 8-0-3, causing some critics to note that numbers like those look more like an area code than a record.

But to coaches Don James of Washington and Gary Moeller of Michigan, the Rose Bowl is a darned respectable place to be on New Year’s Day, perfectly befitting champions of the Big Ten and Pacific 10. So what if there’s no national championship involved? At least there is a fairly significant consolation prize--a $6.5-million payout to each team, the highest in Bowl Land.

When James and Moeller met reporters Monday to formally kick off the activities of the 79th Rose Bowl game, they put their best foot forward, even if that wasn’t always something their football teams managed to do.

“If you had told me before the season that we would finish 9-2 and play in the Rose Bowl, I would have said ‘Let’s nail it down’ in August,” James said. “We don’t live and die with this idea of having to win a national championship.”

Washington had a chance to nail down a second consecutive national title until a late-season swoon that began right after Billy Joe Hobert’s suspension for getting a $50,000 loan from the father-in-law of a friend in violation of NCAA rules. It got uglier. The Huskies lost to Arizona, beat Oregon State and lost big to Washington State, then learned that reserve linebacker Danianke Smith was implicated in a narcotics investigation and charged with five counts of selling cocaine or marijuana.

James said the timing of the news events and the Huskies’ late-season trouble was purely coincidental.

“You won’t hear me making any excuses,” James said.

“I still think it’s a very clean program. A couple of young men made decisions that obviously weren’t very good decisions, (but) we have a lot of great human beings on our team. It’s been a tough year, (but) things like that happen in normal society.”

While James and Washington have a chance to set a record by winning a third consecutive Rose Bowl game, Moeller has a second shot at the Huskies after absorbing a 34-14 drubbing in the last game, billed as a matchup between Heisman winner Desmond Howard of Michigan and Outland winner Steve Emtman of Washington.

Michigan finished with its first undefeated season since 1973 and extended its Big Ten unbeaten streak to 19 games, even though the Wolverines tied three games for the first time since going 3-0-3 in 1910.

Michigan and Notre Dame tied, 17-17, when Wolverine quarterback Elvis Grbac’s pass was intercepted in the final minute, snuffing a potential game-winning drive. The Wolverines tied Illinois, 22-22, after fumbling 10 times and losing four. In the 13-13 tie with Ohio State, Michigan missed an extra-point kick, blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, threw 15 passes to 47 for the Buckeyes and sat on the ball on their own nine-yard line in the final minute.

Afterward, Moeller bitterly complained about the condition of the playing field but seems to have developed a sense of humor about ties. In fact, the latest news release from the Wolverine sports information department listed seven ties this season, including wide receiver Ty Consolino, cornerback Ty Law, Tyrone Noble and tailback Tyrone Wheatley.

“The ties, some of them end up making good conversation in social events of that evening,” Moeller said. “Not for the coaches, for the fans.

“But sometimes those things that happen to you make you stronger, not weaker.”

This might be true for both teams. Then again, since Michigan and Washington finished the last three weeks of the season a combined 2-2-2, it’s a theory that is sure to be tested.

Rose Bowl Notes

Michigan Coach Gary Moeller said there is too much attention placed on winning the national championship. “It’s too much emphasis on No. 1,” he said. “You can’t afford to lose even one game and still be looked at as a great team. I think we have a very fine team.” . . . Because of injury, 11 players on defense missed a total of 41 games and forced tackle Chris Hutchinson, an All-American candidate, to play linebacker. . . . Washington Coach Don James said quarterback Mark Brunell came back sooner than expected after a knee injury and has not lost any speed.

ABC announced that it has extended its contract with the Pacific 10, the Big Ten, the Rose Bowl and the Tournament of Roses to carry the Rose Bowl game through 2001. Tom Hansen, Pac-10 commissioner, said that rights fees will not be reduced. . . . James on the Pac-10’s 15-3 Rose Bowl record since 1975: “I don’t really know why it’s happened--I’ve always said the main reason is that USC and UCLA were in the games so many times.” . . . Washington gave up an average of 310 yards a game, ranking eighth in the Pac-10. Michigan led the Big Ten in scoring, total offense, rushing, first downs, sacks, rushing defense and punting, and was second in total defense and scoring defense.