2008 Woodie Awards
Michigan: Part Deux?
Ben Nielsen
Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Can Southwest Baptist University be this week's Appalachian State? No, really, can they?
I threw this question out to a few people just to gauge their initial reactions.
Each gave a stunned look of disgust as if I had just tainted the memory of the "supposed" greatest upset in college football history.
To be honest, I had to convince myself a little of the possibilities of SBU beating the Division I Bowl Championship Sub-division (formerly known as I-AA) Southeast Missouri State.
Here are a few reasoning for why this upset could happen:
-SBU is 2-2 all-time versus SEMO (however, both wins were at home).
-SBU has an attacking offense that will give SEMO, who gave up more than 600 total yards versus Cincinnati, a few problems.
-Appalachian State beat Michigan at Michigan (I still don't believe this happened). Before I continue, should App. State ever play Michigan again?
And if so, should they invite Michigan to Boone, N.C. to play them? I would do whatever I could to get to N.C. to see that game.
-SEMO is located in Cape Girardeau, which is close(ish) to the University of Missouri-Rolla whom SBU has beaten before (work with me here, please).
-SEMO is not Appalachian State.
-Contrary to popular belief, SBU has actually won a football game on the road before (last time was against UMR in 2005).
-SEMO is not Michigan.
-To the best of my knowledge, SEMO's stadium does not hold 100,000 fans.
-Only $50,000 separated SEMO's football operational budget from SBU's football operational budget in 2005. This seems almost as impossible as Appalachian State beating Michigan at Michigan, but, alas, it's true.
-SEMO's biggest rival is not Ohio State, nor is its second biggest rival Notre Dame.
-Finally, Appalachian State beat Michigan.
All of this boils down to one thing: I still don't think we'll win.
However, let's play the What If game. "What If" SBU does win? Will anybody know? Will anybody care? Will students charge an empty Plaster Field to tear down the goalposts like the students of Appalachian State did? Will Bolivar shops print shirts saying "Southeast Missouri State Who?"
Will SEMO biggest rival, whoever they may be, travel to Bolivar to purchase SBU gear?
This simple answer to all of this is no it will not happen. This is followed by a complicated question that goes something like, "Why wouldn't this happen?"
I'm not going to answer this question because, frankly, I'm still trying to figure out how Michigan lost and how Kansas scored 52 points.
So, I guess SBU could win Saturday. [College football is messed up.]
I threw this question out to a few people just to gauge their initial reactions.
Each gave a stunned look of disgust as if I had just tainted the memory of the "supposed" greatest upset in college football history.
To be honest, I had to convince myself a little of the possibilities of SBU beating the Division I Bowl Championship Sub-division (formerly known as I-AA) Southeast Missouri State.
Here are a few reasoning for why this upset could happen:
-SBU is 2-2 all-time versus SEMO (however, both wins were at home).
-SBU has an attacking offense that will give SEMO, who gave up more than 600 total yards versus Cincinnati, a few problems.
-Appalachian State beat Michigan at Michigan (I still don't believe this happened). Before I continue, should App. State ever play Michigan again?
And if so, should they invite Michigan to Boone, N.C. to play them? I would do whatever I could to get to N.C. to see that game.
-SEMO is located in Cape Girardeau, which is close(ish) to the University of Missouri-Rolla whom SBU has beaten before (work with me here, please).
-SEMO is not Appalachian State.
-Contrary to popular belief, SBU has actually won a football game on the road before (last time was against UMR in 2005).
-SEMO is not Michigan.
-To the best of my knowledge, SEMO's stadium does not hold 100,000 fans.
-Only $50,000 separated SEMO's football operational budget from SBU's football operational budget in 2005. This seems almost as impossible as Appalachian State beating Michigan at Michigan, but, alas, it's true.
-SEMO's biggest rival is not Ohio State, nor is its second biggest rival Notre Dame.
-Finally, Appalachian State beat Michigan.
All of this boils down to one thing: I still don't think we'll win.
However, let's play the What If game. "What If" SBU does win? Will anybody know? Will anybody care? Will students charge an empty Plaster Field to tear down the goalposts like the students of Appalachian State did? Will Bolivar shops print shirts saying "Southeast Missouri State Who?"
Will SEMO biggest rival, whoever they may be, travel to Bolivar to purchase SBU gear?
This simple answer to all of this is no it will not happen. This is followed by a complicated question that goes something like, "Why wouldn't this happen?"
I'm not going to answer this question because, frankly, I'm still trying to figure out how Michigan lost and how Kansas scored 52 points.
So, I guess SBU could win Saturday. [College football is messed up.]
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