Year of the Upset Continues

Upsets and underdogs are everywhere in college sports history. From Rudy to The Throw to George Mason, college sports have been witness to some great triumphs throughout history. However, there has been an increase in seemingly impossible upsets this season in college football. It all started week 1, with Appalachian State stunning the University of Michigan after two blocked field goals to become the first former Division 1-AA team to beat a top 25 team. Week 2 saw another surprising (although much more pedestrian) upset with a young South Florida team upending an Auburn team that was on the cusp of entering the top 10. Since then Michigan is still unranked, South Florida is now ranked 5th, nine out of ten top ranked teams fell in weeks 4 and 5, teams such as Kentucky and Indiana have become major names in the National Championship discussion, and the once mighty USC Trojans fell to a nearly 40 point underdog that was Stanford.



This week 6 more top 25 teams were humbled by "lesser" teams, including the top two teams in the country. Some went out with a bang (LSU in triple overtime), others put up a fight (Cal losing by 3), and some simply rolled over and played dead (Penn State routs Wisconsin). Also succumbing to the 2007 upset bug were Florida State, Cincinatti, and Illinois. With the exception of Illinois, all of these teams have been in the national spotlight and in the discussion for the national championship in the past few years. In contrast, teams like South Florida, Missouri, Hawaii, and Kentucky who have not been involved in championship talks for years, if at all, one of whom has only been in the BCS division for 6 years (USF) are making headlines as they skyrocket to the top of the rankings. As the shake up of the former Division 1-A football rankings continues, the question on a lot of people's lips is simply why?


It certainly can't be talent. While Kentucky and USF have top quarterback prospects in Andre Woodson and Matt Grothe, the big programs such as Michigan, Miami, and USC have similarly rated prospects across the board and down the depth chart, and that trend will seemingly continue. According to Rivals.com, those three teams have the 11th, 9th , and 5th ranked recruiting classes for this upcoming year. So no, it's not that these once no name teams suddenly have all the top talent in the country. According to Yahoo! Sports writer Terry Bowden, it comes down to confidence and coaching.


The small teams simply aren't intimidated by the big names anymore. While upsets have never occurred on this magnitude or number in past years, the big upsets that do occur are nationally televised games, or are at the very least covered exhaustively for the week following by national media on the television or on the internet. Because of this, teams like USF or even Appalachian State have the belief that if they play hard they will not only be able to out work their bigger opponents, but actually defeat them. Part of this is also their coaches. Not only have the coaches been able to gameplan and coach up their players, but they have also become more and more open to new ideas in terms of offensive plays or defensive sets. The first evidence we had of this was Boise State in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. Not one, but two trick plays allowed Boise State to come back and upset then 8th ranked Oklahoma. Next came Appalachian's two field goal blocks, Hawaii throwing anywhere from 40 to 60 times a game, and Missouri's fast paced hurry up offense. On the defensive side, a center who plays defensive end (South Florida's George Selvie) and West Virginia's 3-3-5 set up have helped those teams climb to the top of their conference as well as the nation's polls.


So what can we expect for the second half of the season? Well for one thing, more of the same. After knocking of top ranked LSU, Kentucky plays no. 13 Florida, who was ranked in the top 5 at the beginning of the season in week 8. Michigan can continue to find retribution when they play 18th ranked Illinois. And one of the season's surprises, USF, needs to be wary as they face Rutgers, last year's surprise out of the Big East. Not to mention at least 3 matchups the week after are between currently ranked teams. As the rankings become more and more muddled towards the end of the regular season, I can only say this: thank goodness for flex scheduling, and God help the BCS rankings.