In honor of college football kicking off this weekend, In Game Now ranked the seven most demoralizing opening day upsets in CF history.
1) 2007 – Michigan 32, Appalachian State 34
Here’s how it works (usually): big conference school invites small market school to open the season and give both teams an opportunity to adjust to real competition. Small program takes a beating and earns a few hundred thousand dollars for their athletic department. If they’re nice they might get invited back.If an upset happens, it happens in basketball, NOT football. If it ever happened in football it would be the biggest upset in college football history…
What happened: Michigan lost again the next week until they finally played Notre Dame (see #7 above). Appalachian State went on to win their third straight national championship.
I sat in a section with a host of Appalachian State parents and fans surrounding me when the Mountaineers beat the Wolverines last year. When Michigan set up for a field goal with less than a minute to play in the fourth, it looked like the Wolverines were going to escape complete embarrassment. I thought to myself, “If Michigan misses this kick, I’m about to watch history unfold in front of me…”
…then App State blocked the kick and held on for the win. Being in that parents’ section was unbelievable. I hope the talent level continues to increase at these smaller schools and fans are treated to more upsets like that one.
