Appalachian State

The big story in sports yesterday, other than Clay Buchholz's no-no, was Appalachian State beating #5 Michigan, in the Big House.

Many sports writers and news organizations are making this out to be the biggest upset in college football history. It is the 1980 USA hockey team, Chaminade, George Mason and Dewey Defeats Truman, all rolled into one. To which I say, in the words of Harvey Keitel in Pulp Fiction, "Let's not go sucking everyone's popsicles just yet."

First of all, App State are not chumps. They won the Division 1-AA championship 2 years in a row. Now people will pooh-pooh that and dismiss it out of hand but I am telling you, it matters. First of all, this is still Division I. Second, is the fact that A-State, if they were to play in 1-A, would probably do fairly well. They probably wouldn't be nationally ranked, but certainly they would probably beat perennial bottom-feeders like Buffalo, UCONN, Army, Florida International and Duke. And they would probably put up respectable fights against middle-of-the-pack teams. If A-State played in 1-A, I think they would probably win 7-8 games and get to a bowl.

To say this is the biggest upset of all time is an affront to A-State. Frankly, they are better than that. They are a good team. They have an excellent shot to repeat at 1-AA champions. If it were one of the 1-A bottom feeders I mentioned, or even someone like Indiana or Stanford going to The Big House and beating Michigan, it would be a much bigger deal. Put yet another way:
if this Michigan team circles the drain and winds up going 6-6, will history view this upset in the same context?

Bottom line: This was a big upset. There is no way the #5 team in the country should be losing to a 1-AA team at home, even if they are the two-time defending champions. But to say it is the greatest upset of all time is not only premature but does not give A-State the respect that it deserves. I see this in the same context as I would see Michigan losing at home to someone like Central Florida or Old Miss, surprising but not shocking.