Diminishing Returns? JMU/Va Tech vs Appy/Mich

[GannonFan]

Just thought it was kinda interesting. When Appy knocked off Michigan, you couldn't miss the stories about it. Sports Illustrated's cover had the game and extensive stories about it.

Flash forward to the JMU win over Va Tech, and this week's SI has no pictures of the game, and has all of, from what I can see, one sentence that even mentions JMU in a larger article talking about the state of the ACC.

Granted, JMU had the misfortune of having their upset on the first weekend of the NFL whereas Appy had the weekend clear, but that's a big difference in terms of coverage of one upset versus another a few years later.

[siuham]

One team was Michigan.

One team was Virginia Tech.

[AZGrizFan]

There's been 5 FBS losses to FCS teams in the first two weeks of the season, and a couple more that SHOULD have happened. Me thinks the bloom is off the rose.

[BlueHen86]

One team was Michigan.

One team was Virginia Tech.

Also, Virginia Tech already had a loss.

[AZGrizFan]

One team was Michigan.

One team was Virginia Tech.

Also, Virginia Tech already had a loss.

I'm surprised the "Boise State is fucked" angle hasn't seen more play.

[BlueHen86]

Also, Virginia Tech already had a loss.

I'm surprised the "Boise State is fucked" angle hasn't seen more play.

Yeah, I am too. I've heard it mentioned in passing but not in depth.

I think Boise was fucked either way. Somehow when all was said and done there was no way Boise was going to be in the top two of the final BCS poll, they need too much help.

[AZGrizFan]

I'm surprised the "Boise State is fucked" angle hasn't seen more play.

Yeah, I am too. I've heard it mentioned in passing but not in depth.

I think Boise was fucked either way. Somehow when all was said and done there was no way Boise was going to be in the top two of the final BCS poll, they need too much help.

Not only did they need a lot of help, but 2 of the 3 factors in the equation are HUMAN. Ain't no WAY they were gonna win those two, even if they run the table.

[BlueHen86]

Yeah, I am too. I've heard it mentioned in passing but not in depth.

I think Boise was fucked either way. Somehow when all was said and done there was no way Boise was going to be in the top two of the final BCS poll, they need too much help.

Not only did they need a lot of help, but 2 of the 3 factors in the equation are HUMAN. Ain't no WAY they were gonna win those two, even if they run the table.

Agreed. The power conferences have done everything they can to keep teams like Boise out of the BCS championship game. The only way Boise would have a shot would be to strengthen their schedule, but most teams won't give them a home and home, so Boise would have agree to play (and win) on the road. While Boise could agree to play tough road games it's still not fair because they would then lose the revenue that home games generate.

[Skjellyfetti]

I think it's the fact that it was Michigan instead of Virginia Tech had a whole lot to do with it.

Michigan is one of the most storied programs in college football... no matter what criteria you use... they're near the top. National championships, bowl wins, conference championships, etc. They have the largest stadium in college football. They have one of the largest fanbases in college football.

Virginia Tech has been a good, but not great, program over the last 15 years or so. National Championships, bowl wins, conference championships, etc. Virginia Tech is middle of the pack at best.

Michigan's program's long term success (and especially the size of their fanbase and the douchiness of their fanbase) has made A LOT of haters.

When word got out that Appalachian State was beating Michigan... the college football world stopped.
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This article by Spencer Hall sums it up nicely:

Is it a bigger upset than App State over Michigan?

Probably not, since Michigan was a perennial top five team with a vast history of beating patsies at home at the time. (Things have changed in that department of late.) Virginia Tech has played close games against nominally inferior competition before, and have a fraction of Michigan's long tradition of winning. App State committed regicide in their coup against Michigan; James Madison's assassinated not a king today, but someone of a lofty but slightly lesser rank. You know, someone like....a Duke.

It's impressive, but it's a hair or two shy of eclipsing what remains the greatest upset of our time.

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/9/11/16828 ... n-football" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I do love the fact, though... that for the rest of my life... whenever there's a major upset... it will always be compared to the Appalachian State win. App - Michigan is the standard that upsets are measured by.

As the cover of Sports lllustrated read.... Alltime Upset.

[T-Dog]

Before Michigan, the last monumental upset comparative to it was The Citadel over Arkansas in 1992 and that wasn't as big as this was.

There was NOTHING else going on that weekend. The other story was Jon Lester throwing a no-hitter and that didn't transcend Boston or the MLB fan base because it happened every now and then. No NFL and besides baseball, no other sport of value to the average American was playing. This was comparable to the Miracle on Ice in that it came out of nowhere, it hadn't been accomplished ever before and had the angle of the lovable underdogs against the big, bad establishment.

It also didn't hurt to have a kick-ass ending to our game.

[Mvemjsunpx]

There's been 5 FBS losses to FCS teams in the first two weeks of the season, and a couple more that SHOULD have happened. Me thinks the bloom is off the rose.

It's actually 6…

• Jacksonville St. over Ole Miss
  NoDak State over Kansas
  South Dakota over Minnesota
  JMU over Virginia Tech
  Liberty over Ball St.
  Gardner-Webb over Akron

What gets me is that it's not so much about more FCS upsets than usual, it's that most of them have been completely out of left field. Liberty & Gardner-Webb were supposed to be at least pretty good & they beat low-end MAC teams, so those didn't shock me. However, the others were total blindsiders. Jax State, who lost one of the best QBs in FCS from last year, comes out and knocks off an SEC team. NDSU, who went 3-8 last year and gave up 29 ppg, holds a Big XII team to 3 points. A ranked Virginia Tech team loses to JMU, though the short week at least put that upset into the realm of possibility beforehand. And a team picked near the bottom of the Great West who also lost their star QB leads a shootout win over the Gophers.

[bandl]

People still read Sports Illustrated, the magazine???

JMU/VT was on the front page of CNNSI.com the day after the game (I didn't check that day/night because I was too drunk to function while at a wedding). And CBSsports. And Foxsports. And ESPN.

There's always a silver lining somewhere to piss on though.

[DirtyDukes]

Before Michigan, the last monumental upset comparative to it was The Citadel over Arkansas in 1992 and that wasn't as big as this was.

There was NOTHING else going on that weekend. The other story was Jon Lester throwing a no-hitter and that didn't transcend Boston or the MLB fan base because it happened every now and then. No NFL and besides baseball, no other sport of value to the average American was playing. This was comparable to the Miracle on Ice in that it came out of nowhere, it hadn't been accomplished ever before and had the angle of the lovable underdogs against the big, bad establishment.

It also didn't hurt to have a kick-ass ending to our game.

T-Dog is the only one who's hit on the real reason for the greater App State coverage. It was week 1, so there was no NFL to bump it off the news. For the record, I still think ASU/Mich was a bigger upset, because they were ranked higher. But I'm just saying if we had beat Va Tech in week one our coverage would have lasted a bit longer.

[93henfan]

There's been 5 FBS losses to FCS teams in the first two weeks of the season, and a couple more that SHOULD have happened. Me thinks the bloom is off the rose.

It's actually 6…

• Jacksonville St. over Ole Miss
  NoDak State over Kansas
  South Dakota over Minnesota
  JMU over Virginia Tech
  Liberty over Ball St.
  Gardner-Webb over Akron

Wins over MAC teams only count as half an FBS. Five was correct.

[WacoKid]

It was a bigger story because Michigan is one of the Top 5 programs of all time. Traditionally VT beating Michigan would be an upset itself much less an FCS team doing it. That may not have been the case the past 4 years, but over the course of college football history Michigan > VT.

Having said that, it was still a heck of a win for JMU.

[Appaholic]

But I'm just saying if we had beat Va Tech in week one our coverage would have lasted a bit longer.

Agree. It's opening weekend of college football.....basically the biggest weekend of the college football season since there is no competition (MLB doesn't count as it sucks). JMU's victory occurring one week earlier would have been huge story. It is still a huge win, but a shame that the story has been drowned out by other news. Hopefully thhe JMU win will send VaTech & Beamer into a multi-year tailspin much like App did to Michigan.

[mcveyrl]

But I'm just saying if we had beat Va Tech in week one our coverage would have lasted a bit longer.

Agree. It's opening weekend of college football.....basically the biggest weekend of the college football season since there is no competition (MLB doesn't count as it sucks). JMU's victory occurring one week earlier would have been huge story. It is still a huge win, but a shame that the story has been drowned out by other news. Hopefully thhe JMU win will send VaTech & Beamer into a multi-year tailspin much like App did to Michigan.

Yea, for starters, App over Michigan was a bigger upset nationwide no question. In the Commonwealth, there's no question JMU over VT was bigger.

The fact that App. St. over Michigan already happened also diminishes the coverage. The question in editing rooms becomes: Wait. If we make this a big story, then the next time this happens it's another big story. Maybe we don't want to start making this a big deal. If we were further removed than three years (say 10 years) it would've been a bigger story.

And as everybody else has pointed out, it was week 2 and the NFL was in full bloom (including the Colts getting knocked the **** out - bwahahahaha).

[mebison]

Wasn't MI ranked higher (like #5 or something) when App won, too? For a team with NC aspirations, that was huge.

VA Tech, was ranked about 10 spots lower, and if they had any NC hopes to start with, they were getting dim already after Boise St.

[89Hen]

Everyone has hit the different points...

1. Michigan > VT - not enough people hate VT. UVA's fanbase is much smaller than Ohio State or Penn State and not in the same universe as passionate. I despise VT, but I'm in the minority.

2. VT had already lost.

3. App>UM was the first win over a ranked I-A, that will always be bigger.

[DukeJack]

Wasn't MI ranked higher (like #5 or something) when App won, too? For a team with NC aspirations, that was huge.

VA Tech, was ranked about 10 spots lower, and if they had any NC hopes to start with, they were getting dim already after Boise St.

Yeah, Tech already being the in hole definitely muted the reaction, but as long as Boise keeps winning, the talking heads will continue to bring up JMU.

Also, people keep bringing up the Michigan/Tech ratings as proof of that App's upset was greater, but don't look at where App and JMU were at previously. App St was a two-time defending champ coming off a one-loss season who would win their third that year. Last year JMU finished 6-5 and missed the playoffs. The place both "small" schools are completely different and why people should consider wiping out the margin of Tech/Mich's ratings.

Additionally, had Michigan played Oregon first that year and gotten spanked, their rank would have slipped drastically before playing App, as seen by Tech this year, starting as high as #6 in the coaches poll.

Combined with the start of the NFL season, it's really an apples and oranges comparison. There are several factors why we're not seeing it this time, and why even less noise will be made the third and fourth times it happens. The shock value has simply decreased nationally.

[ChetSteadman]

There's an old saying that really applies to this:

"No one remembers the second man to walk on the moon."

Now, I'm sure there are people who do remember the second man, but the vast majority of regular joes don't have a clue. Does that mean it is any less of an accomplishment to walk on the moon? No, not really. But until someone actually did it, walking on the moon was seen as something out of science fiction movies and comic books. Once the first person did it, some of the shock factor wore off.

[Pwns]

Not that I'm very happy that the FCS has another win over a ranked team, but I just feel like Va. Tech's preseason ranking was way too high and I've said it since preseason. They got there by having a good day on offense against a demoralized Tennessee team that didn't want to be in the bowl game that they were in. The defense, which tends to carry VT's teams, is being rebuilt and while their offense has some days where everything clicks once in a while, it is completely inconsistent and unreliable. I think a lot of people knew Va. Tech was overrated when they lost to Boise State and that's why it just didn't produce the shock of App. State over Michigan.

Also, between App's win over Michigan and UNI's near win over the Orange Bowl champs last year I think people might be getting kind of inured to FCS teams playing competitive with the big dogs.

[JBB]

NDSUs win over the Minnesota Gophers occupied the news around here for more than a week. NDSUs win over Kansas got some big head lines in the local paper on Sunday and then was forgotten. University of South Dakotas win over Minnesota was swept under the rug in the same manner.

There is a diminishing return.

[DaBigBlue]

I think one thing that made the App St/Mich game bigger was first game of the year, the TV coverage and there were no excuses. The JMU/VaTech game was a dreary day, the only coverage was Internet to start with, and the media was all ready giving VaTech their excuses before the game was over...short rest, sloppy field and so on. But in Va this was big, VaTech is the most over-hype team in all BCS here here in Va. You can't go anywhere in Va without seeing VaTech stuff it's in Cracker Barrel, Wal-Mart, as a FCS school you get so tied of it. I mean even the bander at the bottom of a FCS message is for VaTech stuff.

[mcveyrl]

I think one thing that made the App St/Mich game bigger was first game of the year, the TV coverage and there were no excuses. The JMU/VaTech game was a dreary day, the only coverage was Internet to start with, and the media was all ready giving VaTech their excuses before the game was over...short rest, sloppy field and so on. But in Va this was big, VaTech is the most over-hype team in all BCS here here in Va.

Yep. Regardless of what happens nationally, this is a really big deal in Va.