Lower-division schools eligible thanks to Mountaineers

SportsWorld · Post #1 » by **SportsWorld** » Thu Sep 6, 2007 11:19 pm

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3008022

After pulling off one of the greatest upsets in college football history, Appalachian State is still shaking things up.

The Associated Press said Thursday that lower-division schools -- that means you, Mountaineers -- are now eligible for its 71-year-old poll.

"It's great they opened the door," Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said. "Certainly we're not going to be the No. 1 team in the country. We know that. We're not even going to be in the top 10. But if you have a win over a nice football team, I like that it's not out of the realm of possibility for a school like us to be one of the top 20 or 25 teams in the country."

Several AP voters expressed interest in putting Appalachian State on their ballots after a shocking 34-32 upset at then-No. 5 Michigan last weekend. But the poll guidelines, which mirrored the coaches' rankings conducted by USA Today, limited eligibility to teams competing in the former NCAA Division I-A, now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Post #2 » by **timd1218** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 4:46 am

Why is this viewed as one of the greatest upsets in college football history? It's not really. App State is better than probably over half of the DI-A teams. Hell, they're better than my favorite team, Notre Dame. Michigan has a slow defense. App State has a very fast offense. They've won the D-IAA championship the past 2 seasons. It's not that big of an upset.

Monkeyfeng06 · Post #3 » by **Monkeyfeng06** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 4:54 am

so because they are better than most DI-A schools, app. state win against michigan means nothing? that doesn't make any sense.... they are a DI-AA team... they don't get that much money, attention or schalorships like the DI-A schools. of course it's one of the greatest upsets ever.

SportsWorld · Post #4 » by **SportsWorld** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 5:06 am

They went into a stadium with over 100,000 people rooting against them and beat the #5 team in the country.
Teams like Penn State and Wisconsin have trouble winning in the Big House.

El Turco · Post #5 » by **El Turco** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 8:58 am

timd1218 wrote:Why is this viewed as one of the greatest upsets in college football history? It's not really. App State is better than probably over half of the DI-A teams. Hell, they're better than my favorite team, Notre Dame. Michigan has a slow defense. App State has a very fast offense. They've won the D-IAA championship the past 2 seasons. It's not that big of an upset.

Monkeyfeng06 · Post #6 » by **Monkeyfeng06** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 9:20 am

elturco, bought your app. state t-shirt yet?

Post #7 » by **GYBE** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 2:38 pm

timd1218 wrote:Hell, they're better than my favorite team, Notre Dame.

It was one game.

PistonFan4Life · Post #8 » by **PistonFan4Life** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 3:29 pm

GYBE wrote:

It was one game.

I agree it was only one game, but they are the 2 time defending division 2 champions, its no fluke that they are a good team that has been flying under the radar and when they came into the big house they played their hearts out to make sure people would take notice. Well they accomplished that mission with flying colors, no one will overlook them again for a while now. I don't know that I agree with the fact that a division 2 team can now qualify for the top 25. I think its great that they beat Michigan and all (even though I'm a Michigan fan, I like to see smaller teams play to prove they can compete) but if they were to make the top 25 and go back to playing small schools and don't loose the remainder of the year then why is it fair that a bigger school with a harder schedule has one or two losses is on the outside looking in at a team with a soft schedule with the exception of one game?

El Turco · Post #9 » by **El Turco** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 7:50 pm

^thats why its meaningless to even discuss this. apps state if allowed would have stayed in the polls no more than 2 weeks. It would take monumental upset for I-AA school to even sniff the top 25 and they would eventually drop from the rankings within few weeks due to soft schedule and lack of exposure. I guarantee you if apps st. gets in this week, they ll be out in week 3 or week 4 at most. So, why not let them have their time for a week or two as a gesture since they ll be out by the end of the year no matter what happens? as for the upset, they might be better than lot of teams in I-A but like monkey said they dont have the advantages that regular I-A team has, let alone the national powerhouse. You cant take away the fact that they were scheduled as an exhibition game and a game where fans can welcome the team by demolishing an opponent. It is not the one of the biggest,its the biggest upset in college football history.

El Turco · Post #10 » by **El Turco** » Fri Sep 7, 2007 7:54 pm

Monkeyfeng06 wrote:elturco, bought your app. state t-shirt yet?

i ordered one on ebay, hopefully it gets here either today or tommarrow so i can wear it in akron game. there was probably line of 50 people in front of a street vendor.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #11 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Sat Sep 8, 2007 2:22 pm

A Division 1-AA team just beat the #5 team in the nation. Michigan was hyped all offseason and preseason as the one of the top contendors.

Michigan won't win squat with what they have now. They have talent but they don't know how to win.

High 5 · Post #12 » by **High 5** » Sat Sep 8, 2007 4:55 pm

It's dumb to rank teams like App. State. If they do crack the top 25 they'll just drop out the next week or two.

SportsWorld · Post #13 » by **SportsWorld** » Sat Sep 8, 2007 11:36 pm

High 5 wrote:It's dumb to rank teams like App. State. If they do crack the top 25 they'll just drop out the next week or two.

The AP Top 25 is just for fun. In high school football, they use a ranking system like this and teams from other states do not play each other.
It's not like the Top 25 poll means anything.