Who will be the next D-1 team to get upset by a D 1-AA team? When will people stop keying

I am a University of Michigan Football fan, there I said it, take your best shot, tell me how terrible I am, kick me in the balls, knock up my daughter and take the money off the table.  I understand that everyone was just thrilled that the UofM lost to two-time defending national champion Appalachian State (as a Wolverine fan, Appalachian State will be forever known as two-time defending national champion Appalachian State.)  Some schools, like Penn State, acted like they had just won the National Championship.

Now some Michigan fans would take offense to this type of celebration

Not me of course.  I mean why would I take offense to fans going nuts watching a team lose that they haven’t beaten since 1996.

But I understand that this type of celebration at my favorite team’s expense is something that I can expect for a loooooong time.  That is, unless this becomes the year of the 1-AA.  Out of the Division 1-AA preseason top 15 teams, 3 have played Division 1 teams so far:

* ASU 34  – 32 Michigan
* Ohio State 38 – #6 Youngstown State 6
* North Carolina 37 – #7 James Madison 14

Ok so it’s not looking good for another powerhouse in Division 1 to pull the garbage that Uof M pulled, so what’s the next best thing?  The way I see it, for this loss to Appalachian State to ease in any way, the top Division 1-AA teams need to beat some middle of the pack D-1 teams, and definitely any team from the MAC and Sun Belt Conferences of the world.  The following games are must wins for my Division 1-AA buddies if I don’t want to receive any more text messages that simply say “Appalachian State” (I’ve gotten 10 of those so far this week):

* #4 North Dakota State @ Central Michigan
* #5 New Hampshire @ Marshall
* #11 Southern Illinois @ Northern Illinois
* #12 McNeese State @ Louisiana Lafayette
* #13 Portland State (Led by Jerry Glanville) @ San Diego State
* #14 Cal Poly @ Idaho

With the scholarships evening out, and many recruits saying they would rather play for 1-AA championships then fight for births in the Motor City Bowl, it is important for my sanity that these top 1-AA teams beat these Division 1 bottom feeders.

What would really make my day is if a team from a major conference lost.  The story would no longer be about how Michigan lost to a 1-AA school, instead I’d get to listen to all the experts talk about how good these 1-AA schools really are.  This will hopefully ease the nightmares I continue to have of Shawn Crable choosing to block the outside man on a field goal kick and allowing a free lane to block the kick.  Here are some games that Division 1-AA schools can use to show the country that this was not a once in a lifetime upset:

# 3 UMASS @ Boston College

UMASS played Appalachian State tough last year, and they beat powerhouses in their division like Montana, and New Hampshire twice.  In their only game against a Division 1 team last year they lost to Navy by 1…… on the plus side, they did just beat Holy Cross by 10 last week….well maybe Boston College will forget to wear their cleats.

# 8 Illinois State @ Missouri

Ok, so Illinois State lost to Drake last week, who hasn’t?  The fact is, they went into Manhattan last year and lost a nail biter to Kansas State by one point.  Could this be the year they can knock off a middle of the pack Big XII Team?  Hold on, I just got a text….it says Appal…..lets move on.

#15 Wofford @ NC State         

Wofford has been prepping for their match-up with the wolfpack by defeating Georgetown (The one in Kentucky) by 17.  They only lost to South Carolina by 7 last year so the possibility is definitely there.  They have a mobile quarterback who ran for over 100 yards last week so maybe Michigan Defensive Coordinator Ron English can give NC State some advice on how to stop a mobile QB, and we’ll be all set.

# 10 Furman @ Clemson

This one would be nice.  Clemson showed everyone they can play with their win over Florida State, and they’re probably the most highly thought of team to still play a Division 1-AA team.  The team my hopes ride on then?  The mighty Paladins of Furman.  Being from South Carolina, Furman can consider this an in-state battle, which may help their cause.  They lost to North Carolina by 3 last year in Chapel Hill, so we know they’re talent level is about the same as a low-level major conference team. 

The Appalachian State loss is the worst loss Michigan has ever had.  The University will never live it down, they could win the National Championship next year and all anyone will say is “good thing you didn’t play Appalachian State this year.”  The only thing I can hope is that some of these other ranked 1-AA teams can beat some teams from major conferences and I can find someone else to sulk with.  It isn’t much, but when you’re a Michigan fan these days, you take what you can get.

-Violent J

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