Uk losing to what would be (football wise) considered one of the very worst teams in 1-AA . . . .Appy State is the reigning champ in 1-AA

 

I just cannot see that as a valid comparison.

 

The physical disparity between the top athletes in college football and basketball (which Michigan / UK have, and App. State / G-Webb do not) is not even close to comparible. Not to mention scholarship differential.

 

Spin it however you want, but Michigan was bigger, stronger, and faster at all 11 positions on the field. That is a lot more difficult to overcome than being bigger, stronger, and faster 5 on 5.

 

Go look through the history books and name how many times a team ranked lower than 150 beat a top 25 school in college basketball (in fact it happend again yesterday). You will probably find it happens about 10 times as often as any 1-AA school beating a 1-A school, no matter the ranking. There is a reason that was 1-AA's first ever win against a top 25 team, that is because it never happens. And teams a lot better than App. State have played top 25 opponents a lot worse than Michigan and been destroyed.

I just cannot see that as a valid comparison.

 

The physical disparity between the top athletes in college football and basketball (which Michigan / UK have, and App. State / G-Webb do not) is not even close to comparible. Not to mention scholarship differential.

 

Spin it however you want, but Michigan was bigger, stronger, and faster at all 11 positions on the field. That is a lot more difficult to overcome than being bigger, stronger, and faster 5 on 5.

 

Go look through the history books and name how many times a team ranked lower than 150 beat a top 25 school in college basketball (in fact it happend again yesterday). You will probably find it happens about 10 times as often as any 1-AA school beating a 1-A school, no matter the ranking. There is a reason that was 1-AA's first ever win against a top 25 team, that is because it never happens. And teams a lot better than App. State have played top 25 opponents a lot worse than Michigan and been destroyed.

 

That's a point I hinted at earlier, but failed to accurately make...and a huge difference.

 

Also, App State over Michigan was on the cover of SI...and garnered much more talk and attention in the media. That should tell you something...

 

Another thing that separates it is that there was virtually nothing at stake and nothing lost when UK was upset by GW. In one game, Div I-AA App State eliminated Michigan from national title contention...that's a huge factor, IMO.

After watching that UM/APPY game the point was that Michigan was NOT faster across the board....that's what was so noticeable.

UK because I am a huge Kentucky fan.

 

:thumb::thumb:

I still think basketball is a sport where the improbable upset is more possible due to the game itself...one guy can carry a team in basketball...also a team can have an unbelievable, lights out shooting night or a team can do the exact opposite and not throw it in the ocean...

 

I'm not trying to defend UK losing to GW. I'm just saying I think App State going into the Big House was more improbable, IMO. You can make a good argument for either side, but for me, the actual setup of the sports (basketball vs. football) is the difference. I just think it's more likely that the little guy can pull of the miracle in basketball.

 

I completely agree it is much easier for a lesser team to upset someone in basketball than in football. Especially now a days with some D-1 schools out their these small schools can get talent because as everyone knows kids have so many opportunities to play with all of the AAU teams.

While the UK loss to G-W was indeed a bad, bad loss; it was not of the magnitude of the Michigan loss to App State. What makes it more of a shocker is that Michigan was able to reel off several consecutive wins later on; so it wasn't like an App State beating this year's Notre Dame team in Game 1, only to find out that Notre Dame would be historically inept.

 

Huge upsets are much more common in basketball. The UK loss was magnified by the fact that it was UK and this board is heavily populated by UK fans.