The Appalachian Effect in N.C.A.A. Football

Remember when the Michigan Wolverines kicked off their football season last year with a loss to Appalachian State University?

Some people called it the biggest upset in college football history.

Well, as Mike Huguenin notes at Rivals.com, it looks like the big-time schools are being a lot more careful this year in picking their supposedly patsy opponents.

Appalachian, meanwhile, is hoping to start the ’08 season even more outrageously than last year: against the defending national champs L.S.U. It should not be forgotten that Appalachian has won the past three national championships at its level.