It was upon this cynical stage that I witnessed something today that gave me pause. An actual accomplishment of the American Myth. I speak of the victory of Appalachian State University's football team over the Wolverines of the University of Michigan. More significant than that, the game was played upon the hallowed turf of Michigan Stadium, the Big House itself. The Michigan Wolverines entered the 2007 season ranked #5 in the AP football poll. They were even touted to be the odds-on favorite to win the Big 10 and play in the national championship game. The Wolverines came into the game winners of 12 of their last 13 home openers, and they had never played against a Division 1-AA team and lost. In fact, until that time, no top 25 team had ever been beaten by a 1-AA team. Ever. Enter the Mountaineers of Appalachian State. I had to go to Google Maps to find where Boone, NC is (87 miles west of Winston-Salem, NC). Now the Mountaineers are no slouch 1-AA team, they have won the national championship at that level for the last 2 years in a row. But let's be honest, there are no high school prep all-starts playing football at Appalachian State.
I have always been critical of the tradition in college football to schedule a woefully overmatched division 1-AA team as the first game of the season. An opportunity for the big beefy guys to chew up and spit out the poos schmoes on the other team as a tune-up for the conference schedule. A way to run up the score and make the alumni chuckle and hand over lots of chash. Boise State University was no different. They annihilated Weber State University 56-7 last Thursday (the touchdown Weber State scored was when they put in the marching band in the game in favor of the 3rd stringers late in the 4th quarter. The marching band scored 10 points of their own). If teams really want to compete for a national championship, then they should play tough schedules and win all of their games. It's that simple. Man up and play the big teams for your non-conference schedule to prove that you're worth all of the hype. Well, it appears that the scheduling gurus in Ann Arbor got a little more than what they bargained for. Appalachian State just gave Penn State, Ohio State and all of the other teams in the Big 10 the blueprints to dismantle the Wolverines. I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan loses 3 more games (Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State) and finish 8-4 and get a bid to play in the We Suck Bowl against San Jose State.
