Appalachian State looking at moving to FBS
I was wondering when this was going to happen. They join the Big East or ACC and I would assume they are at least middle of the pack. From what I've seen over the last few years, their talent hasn't really decreased since The Horror.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5634899
Sooo, apparently it is literal night today. Obviously I was poking fun at the Big East and the ACC.
September 30th, 2010 at 11:59 PM ^
About time.
October 1st, 2010 at 12:09 AM ^
Oh the horror....
October 1st, 2010 at 9:05 AM ^
"Oh the horror".. what happened? I hate how it is still mentioned so often. Maybe its because I am a Michigan fan but I think I hear the "upset"" and the "timeout": almost more then any other sad sports story.
October 1st, 2010 at 12:14 AM ^
Sorry OP, there's no way they would be let into the Big East or ACC. Football is one thing, but acadmemics and enrollment is another. App State is way too small for either of those conferences. CUSA perhaps?
October 18th, 2010 at 5:25 PM ^
Hey, sorry if this is a late blog but I thought I'd chime in anyway. If I'm not mistaken, App State is larger, in number of students, than Wake Forest, Duke and Boston College. Their academics are very respectable also. I do agree they probably will not go into the ACC if they decide to bump up to the FBS. One obvious hurdle would be they are located in NC and there are already four schools in the ACC from NC. ECU would have the same problem as well.
October 1st, 2010 at 12:15 AM ^
I doubt they could go straight from FCS to the a BCS conference. As we all know now, conferences aren't really about good football teams, it is about money and prestige. ASU would probably end up in Conference USA or something before jumping up to the Big East. And I think the ACC is probably happy at 12, now that the Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC all seem relatively stable there.
October 1st, 2010 at 12:29 AM ^
I thought the only reason they weren't an FBS school is because their stadium was too small. I live in NC and know plenty of people who go to App. State, and they're crazy about football there. Also, academics shouldn't be an issue with them. They're pretty much on par with ECU, so I agree that they should be C-USA.
October 1st, 2010 at 5:36 AM ^
And if that video was actually produced by the university they should be seeking admission into the local high school conference... As I watched it, till the Hot, Hot, Hot, I said to myself, "What the hell bro?"
October 1st, 2010 at 3:21 PM ^
My high school's AV department puts this video to shame.
October 1st, 2010 at 2:50 AM ^
CUSA is at 12 too so I can't see them adding App State.
My guess would be the Sun Belt.
If they added Louisiana Tech, South Alabama, and App State that would get them to 12.
I think we're headed towards mostly 12 team conferences with the exception of the Longhorn-Sooner Conference and possibly a severely depleted WAC.
Big East could add Temple, Villanova, UCF, and Memphis. And then maybe App State gets into the CUSA.
I don't know at this point.
October 1st, 2010 at 6:09 AM ^
NOooooooo why won't they go away?! If ESPN talks about it, they'll show footage from THE HORROR. I cannot take it anymore. I thought time would help me handle this better, but alas, the pain has yet to subside.
October 1st, 2010 at 7:48 AM ^
...when you have a historic loss. It becomes part of history. And history is written by the victors (although sadly, not The Victors in this case).
October 1st, 2010 at 8:52 AM ^
I wonder if the James Madison loss will get as much play for VaTech as the App St. loss has for UM?
To answer my own question (don't you love it when people do that?), my guess would be a resounding; "NO." VaTech, while a solid program the last 15 years or so simply doesn't have the cachet of UM and their loss to JMU will probably be quickly forgotten by the MSM.
One of the things I find so strange about the App St. loss is that people in the MSM still point out that UM was a top ranked team at the time (#5 IIRC), but neglect to point out that UM finished the season a mere 8-4 and was, thus, vastly overrated in the pre-season. App St.'s win wasn't over a good UM team, it was over a merely average UM team.
October 1st, 2010 at 8:56 AM ^
ne of the things I find so strange about the App St. loss is that people in the MSM still point out that UM was a top ranked team at the time (#5 IIRC),
That's exactly it, though. VT was highly ranked, but they were picked to be very good in and possibly win their conference. On the other hand, M was coming off of 11-2 season (including bowl loss), Chad Henne, Mike Hart and Jake Long were all seniors, while MM and Arrington were juniors. That was supposed to be OUR year. All the prognosticators said we would be hard to stop for the NC.
October 1st, 2010 at 9:28 AM ^
Except the prognosticators didn't bother to notice the big drop in our defensive talent (Branch, Woodley, Harrison, I forget if Hall left then too - I don't think so though). We held opposing teams to less than 100 rushing yards every game until the OSU game. No excuse for App State, but I don't think there was a serious Michigan fan in the country who thought we should be ranked #5.
October 1st, 2010 at 11:56 AM ^
As a lifelong Browns fan I have an in depth knowledge of historic losses. “ The Drive” is still mentioned multiple times during the NFL season and it still irritates me. References to it also randomly appear to annoy me. One recent example would be the movie Hot Tub Time Machine. I am sitting on my couch watching the movie and there is a scene where there is a football game on and the characters realize they can bet on it because they know the outcome. I of course knew which game it had to be before they even showed it.
That game was almost 25 years ago. That’s why historic losses suck. They never go away. Hopefully the Horror will at least serve as motivation for the team to never allow it to happen again. As for it going away you should just prepare yourself to hear references to it for the rest of your life. Sorry.
October 1st, 2010 at 8:15 AM ^
No BCS conference, but they should definitely move up a level.
I'd be interested to see how they'd do their first first few years with the "big boys".
October 1st, 2010 at 8:44 AM ^
They needed to change to FBS pre-2007 to save our sanity.
October 1st, 2010 at 8:56 AM ^
It's easier for a team like Appy State to play one FBS team and then go back to their FCS schedule than it is to play twelve FBS teams every year. They played the game of their lives in the Big House, but what happens when they have to play the "game of their lives" every week?
Appy State is a cute story for anyone outside of Ann Arbor, but they are in for a rude awakening if they think they can waltz into the FCS and play even .500 ball their first year. Also, coaching staffs have more expeience against the spread now than they did five years ago. Add to that the fact that the surprise factor is gone, and Appy State would be a cellar-dweller in any of the major conferences for the first year, and maybe two or three years.
I would love to see them join the Big East. It's a decent geographical fit for them, and it would be very entertaining to watch them get squashed by the upper level teams the last half of the season after they wore down.
October 1st, 2010 at 9:13 AM ^
I saw this on the bottom line on ESPN last night during the Oklahoma St/Texas A&M game. Of course when things are on that ticker, they normally keep them short. Even with the brief statement of the news, they were able to mention The Horror. When will we ever be able to forget that game?
-Never.
October 1st, 2010 at 3:05 PM ^
Never. SU fans still get reminded of Keith Smart in 1987 even after winning a national title, blocking a shot on the same spot on the floor, in the same damn arena.
It will never go away.
October 18th, 2010 at 5:54 PM ^
And every Michigan fan remembers the 1994 Colorado game, while somehow forgetting that we played, and beat, them in '96 and '97. Someone posted the other day that we needed to schedule them to "get revenge" for '94.
October 1st, 2010 at 9:13 AM ^
Doesn't make any less sense than Louisiana Tech.
October 1st, 2010 at 9:57 AM ^
They're probably better than at least 10-20 teams currently in the FBS.......same could be said for UMass and several others.
October 1st, 2010 at 10:05 AM ^
Sooo, apparently it is literal night today. Obviously I was poking fun at the Big East and the ACC.
Wasn't all that obvious, actually.
October 1st, 2010 at 11:58 AM ^
ASU led FCS in attendance in 07 & 08 (2nd in 09) with numbers of 24-25k per game. That was better than some 33 FBS schools in 09, nearly all MAC & Sun Belt teams and a few WAC, MWC, and CUSA teams.
I could see ASU start in the Sun Belt, with the Big East paying very close attention to them in their development. I doubt the Big East would add them in football without adding them in other sports, too. Sun Belt is a football only conference I believe so it's a good fit.
October 1st, 2010 at 3:09 PM ^
The Big East will not happen. Basketball, location (they're not in Florida either), and all other sports. Zero percent chance.
October 1st, 2010 at 2:43 PM ^
Like many other I-AA powerhouses, App State has made a living off getting transfers from I-A schools. When they go up to our classification, they have to play by the same rules as everyone else. No more instant eligibility for transfers. It'll be interesting to see if they can pull it off.