Unique Thoughts -- Wk 1

Unique thoughts = tryin' to say what hasn't been said already...

• Any Given Saturday

What do you have if Michigan makes either of two botched field goals, or converts the first 2pt conversion, or any one of several bounces go the other way?

How about San Diego State in 2004, destined for a disappointing 4-7 season, coming into Michigan Stadium and narrowly losing 24-21? Michigan finished that season 9-3, barely lost to Vince Young's Texas in the Rose Bowl, and wound up ranked #14.

In other words, look to the big picture. In the last three weekends of college football, going back to last season, we have seen the supposed underdog Boise State shock Oklahoma, Florida defying the odds and blowing out Ohio State, and now the Appalachian State surprise. It seems that odds and rankings and especially computer rankings don't mean a whole lot when you actually put the teams on the field.

Giving a team a chance to win a game on the field doesn't always produce the expected results. While the Appalachian State game surely says something about this year's Michigan team as we begin the season, I'm more interested in what it says about the BCS system at the end of the year.

• The Jobs Bowl

So... worst opening game home loss ever?

One win in two years vs. teams finishing in the Top 25 (Penn State, #24 last year)?

Two roastings in bowl games?

As the Tyrone Willingham recruits cycle out at Notre Dame, and the Charlie Weis guys come in, the results are pointing in an eerily familiar direction. I have to think that the Appalachian State story is the best thing that could have happened to Charlie Weis. The media can only ruminate on firing one coach at a time, and didn't have time to dwell too much on the offensive genius that wasn't Charlie Weis.

In his fourth to last game before getting fired, Tyrone Willingham beat Tennessee, a team that finished that year 10-3, finished ranked #14, and won the Cotton Bowl. There were several such wins in the years prior to that for Willingham at Notre Dame. Charlie Weis, beginning his third season, has given new birth to the trademark 30-pt Willingham defeats, but still hasn't gotten a signature win to rival that Tennessee game at the end, or the Michigan win the same year by Willingham, or several others.

Both Michigan and Notre Dame could easily get to Sept. 15 with 0-2 records. If that happens, get ready for the "Jobs Bowl" in Ann Arbor. The presidents of the respective schools might not think so, but the fans of an 0-3 football team are not likely to be silenced.