Here's something to chew on if you're an Appalachian fan....

Commentary: ASU playing in a bowl? Just an idea
By Steve Behr, sports editor

sports@wataugademocratcom



It’s just the second game of the season, but the possibility of Appalachian State running the table and winning 15 games is alive and well.

That said, the Mountaineers are eligible to be ranked in the Associated Press poll, which came about after they stunned Michigan 34-32 Sept. 1.

Some writers wanted to vote them 25th. That’s a shame. They’re probably better than that. Put Appalachian State against a team ranked from 20-25 in the AP poll, especially at a neutral site or at Kidd Brewer Stadium, and chances are the Mountaineers will win their share of games.

Yet the voters are correct when they are unlikely to vote for the Mountaineers as the season goes on. For every team like Furman, Wofford or even Georgia Southern that’s on the schedule, there is a Lenoir-Rhyne, Chattanooga and Elon for the Mountaineers to steamroll.

It’s tough to build street cred beating Chattanooga, which is still smarting from a loss to Division II Carson-Newman.

If the Mountaineers go 15-0, they deserve a national ranking. But if an undefeated season isn’t enough to crack the AP poll, there is another way.

It’s called a bowl game.

Would it be fair to ask the Mountaineers to play a 16th game? Actually, no. For anybody who has not seen I-AA/FCS football, yes, these guys hit hard and sometimes they get hurt. Appalachian State would be nursing its share of bumps, bruises and muscle pulls from its previous 15 battles.

Then there’s the eligibility issue. Division I-A teams must beat six I-A teams to reach a bowl. Appalachian State is 1-0 against I-A teams. According to my Northern Colorado education, that leaves them, um, several games short.

Certainly some fast-acting legislation would be needed, which in itself shoots down this possibility. Power conferences, which on occasion send their seventh-place teams to the lower-tier bowls, would howl about Appalachian State’s lack of I-A teams on its schedule.

Boo, hoo to them.

The benefits would outweigh the disadvantages. Let’s start with college football in general. What a great story, having the I-AA/FCS champs playing with the big boys in the postseason. Not only would the Mountaineers get another chance to prove that they are worthy of AP top 25 mention, but the nation would get to see just how good this team is.

You want financial? A bowl that would be played near the end of December, say the Meinike Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, would bring a six-figure payoff to the Mountaineers.

Then again, that’s a big reason why the big conferences would object.

It’s not like Bank of America Stadium would be empty. Appalachian State squeezed 28,802 into Kidd Brewer Stadium to watch Lenoir-Rhyne. Imagine how many tickets Mountaineer Nation would buy to fill up Bank of One Stadium. My guess is maybe, 40,000-45,000, with help from curious football fans and those who want to see what this team is all about.

True, the Mountaineers would be playing their 16th game, but they would not be fighting off the rust that an ACC or Big East team would.

Ah, yes. The magic words. ACC. Atlantic Coast Conference. The East Coast version of Texas Tea.

The measuring stick of Southern Conference teams in basketball and occasionally football. Even more than the SEC, beating an ACC team in anything seems to mean more in the High Country.

Maybe new coach Butch Davis shakes up the Tar Heels enough to make North Carolina bowl eligible.

Maybe Tom O’Brien does the same at N.C. State. Maybe Duke can put some wins together — nah forget that. But I can’t believe Jim Grobe is going to let Wake Forest slip so far down that the Deacons don’t follow their 2007 Orange Bowl trip with another bowl bid.

As good as it might sound to an ASU fan to get a shot at playing North Carolina, or another shot at N.C. State, the truth is none of this will happen. Teams with a stake in getting a pre-New Year’s Day bid, will never go for it.

Still, it’s something to consider in the future.

 

It'll never happen. Look at the language of the new designations of the leagues. NO longer is it I-A and I-AA; it's what, collegiate football bowl game subdivision (formerly I-A) and collegiate football championship subdivision (formerly I-AA). Regardless of whether App. St. could cut it, I don't see the NCAA allowing a team to cross over from the playoff system to the bowl system, or more importantly, take place in both. The new language they've used emphasises the division/separation between the bowl game system and the playoff system.

 

That's just rediculous. They are a great AA team but that's going a too far.

 

should USC be allowed the participate in the 1AA playoffs?

What App did was great at the time, however michigan looks to be weak, and the app bandwagon is taking things a little too far. Great win over Michigan, now go win another 1AA NC and be happy.

 

Bowls are a joke anyway. 6-5 teams should not be going to bowls, and every Division 1-A or whtever you wanna call it qualifies by going 6-5. Talk about ridiculous. There's way too many.

I'd just as soon them win another championship rather than go to a bowl.

 

They wouldn't be ranked if they beat a bunch of Division 1-AA teams. That's ridiculous. They beat an unranked Michigan team

 

They were ranked #5 when App beat them.

 

Sure, but Oregon beat the absolute living hell out of Michigan the following week.

 

Yeah - that definitely took some of the glimmer off the win. Still, since Michigan destroyed Notre Dame and if they WIN OUT - which is a big if - they'll be right back in the elite.

I'd still just as soon ASU just 3peat as NC in their division. That's plenty good enough for me.

 

Some of the 1-AA playoff games I watched last year were better than 95% of the Bowl games I saw. Worry about those games instead of some corporate bowl game that no one watches....