If VT stays ranked 13th will the JMU win end up the biggest FCS upset ever?

[Old Cat Fan]

Back in 2007 when App St upset Michigan,they ended the year winning the FCS title and Mich ended up 18th in the final polls. So with JMU not even making the playoffs and VT currently ranked 13th, I would have to put it down as the greatest FCS upset. Unless there are other games anyone else thinks should be.

[TwoFeathers]

Back in 2007 when App St upset Michigan,they ended the year winning the FCS title and Mich ended up 18th in the final polls. So with JMU not even making the playoffs and VT currently ranked 13th, I would have to put it down as the greatest FCS upset. Unless there are other games anyone else thinks should be.

Isn't it more accurate what they were ranked at the time of the game? A team can get better, or worse, as the season goes on.

[Appfan_in_CAAland]

I love pointing out to my VT fan friend how JMU finished near the bottom of the CAA this season.

Trying to be objective, and not an App homer here. On paper, I'd say yes JMU over VT may have been bigger. '10 VT is probably be better than '07 Michigan and '07 App State was clearly better than '10 JMU. But in the grand scheme of things, no way. App State over Michigan was a way bigger deal for the world of college football. App State shocked the entire system, and another team did the same thing a few years later produced more of a disinterested "how about that?". App State-Michigan was the lead sports story for over a week. But I watched ESPN all evening after the JMU win and saw exactly one highlight package and almost no pundit talk - and not a word of it outside local Virginia sportstalk after that. A few years from now people will still be talking about App State over Michigan but people outside Virginia will not remeber JMU over VT, exactly because JMU wasn't any good this season and VT won 10 straight after losing to the Dukes.

[TwoFeathers]

I love pointing out to my VT fan friend how JMU finished near the bottom of the CAA this season.

Trying to be objective, and not an App homer here. On paper, I'd say yes JMU over VT may have been bigger. '10 VT is probably be better than '07 Michigan and '07 App State was clearly better than '10 JMU. But in the grand scheme of things, no way. App State over Michigan was a way bigger deal for the world of college football. App State shocked the entire system, and another team did the same thing a few years later produced more of a disinterested "how about that?". App State-Michigan was the lead sports story for over a week. But I watched ESPN all evening after the JMU win and saw exactly one highlight package and almost no pundit talk - and not a word of it outside local Virginia sportstalk after that. A few years from now people will still be talking about App State over Michigan but people outside Virginia will not remeber JMU over VT, exactly because JMU wasn't any good this season and VT won 10 straight after losing to the Dukes.

Yup, makes JMU / VT look more like a fluke than a real upset.

[Reign of Terrier]

I love pointing out to my VT fan friend how JMU finished near the bottom of the CAA this season.

Trying to be objective, and not an App homer here. On paper, I'd say yes JMU over VT may have been bigger. '10 VT is probably be better than '07 Michigan and '07 App State was clearly better than '10 JMU. But in the grand scheme of things, no way. App State over Michigan was a way bigger deal for the world of college football. App State shocked the entire system, and another team did the same thing a few years later produced more of a disinterested "how about that?". App State-Michigan was the lead sports story for over a week. But I watched ESPN all evening after the JMU win and saw exactly one highlight package and almost no pundit talk - and not a word of it outside local Virginia sportstalk after that. A few years from now people will still be talking about App State over Michigan but people outside Virginia will not remeber JMU over VT, exactly because JMU wasn't any good this season and VT won 10 straight after losing to the Dukes.

correct on all counts

[CAAisBOSS]

while it was a great win for jmu... to give vt some credit... they were coming off a monday night game... a very emotional loss and then had 3 days to prepare fro a good jmu teamm that would be middle of th pack/not last in the acc... three days rest is not a lot which definitely afffected the outcome though that takes nothing away from jmus effort or perfromance. a great upset but not the greatest

[JMU2K_DukeDawg]

Where to begin? In short, yes, I think the JMU over VT win was the biggest FCS upset, although you can argue both ways. Having said that, the media certainly did its best to ignore the circumstances of it all.

The fact that JMUs season fell apart after some injuries and bad coaching does not have any correlation to the media coverage. That night JMU was 2-0 while VT was 0-2. Still the media largely ignored it because we were not the first team to do it.

App St. for all of its advancements in their program also has or had a lower profile than JMU. Doesn't mean a lot of people know about JMU either, but many have heard about James Madison, in part because of the early 80s basketball teams that did extremely well. Madison also is the namesake of the 4th US Pres. App St. meanwhile wreaks of "who? and where the hell is App-u-lay-chan State?"

Point is - perception is reality. And when App St. took down Michigan, the perception was that Michigan should have been the front runner that year for a BCS title. App St. was never heard of before and so the perception was that the school is:
A) Small (not true)
B) Has dumb hicks (partially true :P)
C) Not competitive in athletics (mostly not true)

What bothers me is that the media talks about the "Big House" but forget to mention that teams go in there and WIN - it's not that intimidating an environment. Ohio State certainly has been successful there lately.

Meanwhile, how many teams have gone into Lane Stadium in the past 10 years and won? JMU this year, BC last year, and I think Miami and/or NC State have posted wins - and that is it. It's a far more intimidating place IMO. Just as Seattle's venue in the NFL is far more intimidating than FedEx Field or Dallas' new place.

So perception created a lot of the hype. Three factors also played into the lack of media on that day:
A) Short week and a ton of coverage of Boise State/VT just days ago
B) Crappy weather - it wasn't pretty.
C) No big play factor - App St. blocked the FG to seal the deal. Meanwhile, VT roughing the kicker call sealed their fate. Stories are therefore respectively painted as such: "App St. upsets #5 Michigan" and "#13 VT blows early lead to JMU" Semantics can say a lot.

I also think there were a couple big games that day for big teams, while not much else happened when App St. beat Michigan. And let's face it, far more people follow Michigan nationwide than they do VT.

[ThompsonThe]

Some of that is true (except the Hicks go to JM Who) but one reason not many teams upset VT in Lane Stadium is because they do not bring in the huge names to Lane Stadium that often. Michigan was the winningest college football program. VT is fairly new to the ACC, was in the Beast for awhile, and the SoCon before that. Perception as you say. Many other points, but it's late.

[mcveyrl]

Yup, makes JMU / VT look more like a fluke than a real upset.

I agree with just about everything that Appfan said, but what's the difference in an upset and a fluke?

I think the odds of App beating Michigan on AGS are about as good as JMU beating VT on AGS.

By the way, for those that want to really irk Tech fans, talk about what would've been had they beaten the "D2 school" from up the road. Look at the AP poll from Week 2 and look at all the teams that Tech is ahead of that they're behind now. If they beat JMU and run the table like they have been, they are probably a Top 5 team in the BCS with an outside shot of still playing for the NC. They're even ahead of Auburn in that poll (although the computers would've done some figurin' too).

[Rekdiver]

Uh...let me think.........the answer is "No". But if you are looking for something to validate your season an not getting into the playoffs, sure you and say it was the bigest ever! Hope it makes you feel better.