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Earthquake in Michigan

I don't really know what to say, but I feel like a college football blog should acknowledge what happened in Michigan.

This is hard to overstate. This is literally a landmark moment in college football. Sure, Division I-A (or "Football Bowl Subdivision") teams have lost to Division I-AA (or "Football Championship Subdivision") teams before. But the No. 5 team in the country falling to a lower-subdivision team while enjoying one of the most intimidating home-field advantages in the sport? This is unprecedented.

Which is why I don't know what to say.


Neither does he.

Does it mean that I-AA teams are finally catching up to their bigger counterparts in the talent department? I doubt it, but could be. Does it mean that Michigan is really that bad? I doubt it, but could be. Does it mean that I-AA teams are no longer gimme wins for most I-A teams? I doubt it, but could be.

Could Lloyd Carr resign, or retire, before the season is out? I don't know. Does it mean the Wolverines are out of the NC hunt for this year? Almost certainly.

It also means they will not appear on my next BlogPoll ballot. Period. No team that loses to a I-AA team can stake any claim to a ranking. Not until they do quite a bit to extricate that result from my brain.

I didn't see the game in full, so I don't know why it happened, though the highlights included key defensive and special-teams breakdowns.

But there is no doubt that this is a landmark moment. Whether it is an historic one depends on whether other I-AA teams can do what Appalachian State did when nobody saw it coming.