Bigger story: Appy State or Boston no-hitter?

I'm the guy who spent all day working on the house, the evening watching movies and drinking rum drinks with his wife, and woke up this morning to go do more work on the house. I didn't find out about either story (the no-hitter nor Appalachian State) until, well, until I clicked on this thread.

I find the Appalachian State story far more interesting. If I had looked at a section this morning, that's what I would have expected to see as the major presence.

 

This upset is certainly bigger than Chaminade-Virginia, because it's harder to upset a team in football than basketball (more players). However, there is no way this is bigger than the US hockey team over the USSR.

That USSR team had not only been playing together for years, dominating the Olympics, but they had just whipped up on a bunch of NHL All-Stars.

 

So is this the biggest football upset in history?

 

Near as I can tell, yes.

I am far from a college football historian, however.

 

It's a huge upset, but you also need to remember that Appalachian State is the two-time defending FCS (formerly I-AA) champion. Marshall won that title and moved up to FBS.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/story/7180390?print=true
Biggest upset ever? Take a look at the rest -- Don Borst / FOXSports.com

http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stories/090107agf.html
Top Five Upsets: A look at some of the biggest shockers in college football history -- By Eric Sorenson, Special to CSTV.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/rank?versionId=1&listId=34
ESPNU Rank 'Em: College Football Upsets

And a darkhorse contender:
http://www.centre.edu/web/library/sc/football_1921.html
"Centre vs. Harvard

The Centre College football team's record of 9-0 in 1919 encouraged Harvard to add the small Danville, Kentucky, college to its 1920 schedule. Coach "Uncle Charlie" Moran's team from Centre included three All-Americans - Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (quarterback), Jim "Red" Weaver (center), and third team end James "Red" Roberts. In Cambridge, the score was 14-14 at half-time and McMillin gained more than 280 yards that afternoon, but Centre's Praying Colonels lost 31-14. The Harvard Crimson, national champions and undefeated in five years, met the Praying Colonels for the second time in Harvard Stadium on Saturday, October 29, 1921, before 45,000 fans. The first half ended scoreless. Early in the third quarter on the Harvard 32-yard line, McMillin took the ball through the right side of the line, reversed his direction and crossed the goal line at the left sideline. At the end of the historic game, the score was Centre 6, Harvard 0. Many people that day believed that they had seen David defeat Goliath. The Associated Press in 1950 and the New York Times in 1971 agreed that the Centre victory was the football upset of the century.

Source: Lee, Charles R., Jr. The Kentucky Encyclopedia, 1992"

 

In my litetime, and pushing the early boundary at that, Notre Dame ending Oklahoma's 47-game winning streak in Norman has always seemed like the ultimate upset, seeing as the Irish were in a down phase (they'd been 2-8 the year before).
That, incidentally, was the start of the Sports Illustrated jinx. All of three years old, SI's cover that arrived in my grubby 8-year old hands the day before the game, read "Why Oklahoma is Unbeatable."

 

I refuse to call this the "greatest upset" right now. Time will tell, but there's no questioning that Appy State's win yesterday will likely never be forgotten.

Which brings up the next point: How long will it be until they make a movie about the game?

 

Appy State would have led my section if I were running a national sports section. The Red Sox rookie throwing a no-no would have been on page 1 somewhere, depending on what else was going on.

 

After they make the Boise State movie. ;D

Which, UM fanboy looserness aside, was way more dramatic than yesterday.

 

Remember Boise was ranked higher than Oklahoma. Heck of a game though.

 

Oklahoma was favored by double-digits.