By achieving an unprecedented, unheralded and unbelievable upset of the 5^th ranked team in college football, Appalachian St. could and does posses a legitimate argument to be in the BCS in at the end of the football season.  Although they belong in the lower division of college football, formally known as Division IAA, I argue the Mountaineers rightfully deserve the right to play in the BCS if the following occur:

1)      Michigan Finishes in the Top 15 of the BCS Poll.  Clearly for this to happen Michigan has to wake up and realize they are a D1 powerhouse and have all the talent in the world to still compete in the highly competitive Big Ten. If Michigan can beat Wisconsin and Ohio State that should easily wrap up the conference championship and a high BCS ranking. However, even if the Wolverines finish with 8-9 wins and the only power win is Penn State, there is a high likelihood they could still finish in the top 15 of the BCS rankings

2)      Appalachian St. goes undefeated during the regular season. This is an obvious statement, but if you compare the strength of schedule of the Mountaineers at the end of this season to the 2006 Boise State Broncos I bet it will be eerily similar. Thus, the same argument must be said about Appalachian St. if they go undefeated this year that was said about Boise State last year and that is, “they beat everyone in their schedule and that is the only thing that they could control.” Obviously, by beating everyone on their schedule including Michigan makes all those Boise State fans look like hypocrites.

3)      Not one BCS Conference Team finishes undefeated. This is going to be the biggest obstacle for Appalachian St. to overcome. With the likes of USC, LSU and Florida it is very possible that there could be at least 3 undefeated D1 teams at the end of the year. However, history says there will be at least 1 season within every decade where there are no undefeated D1 BCS conference teams. Looking back the last time that happened was in 1996 when Florida won the National Championship. Although having this happen this season is not very possible it is probable and could bode well for the Mountaineers.

In conclusion, the probability of all three of these events occurring this season and is higher than winning the Arizona Power Ball, however, if the stars do align and Appalachian St finishes the regular season like Boise St. did last year, the question should be seriously asked, “DO THE APPALACHIAN ST MOUNTAINEERS DESERVE THE CINDERELLA SHOT THAT BOISE ST RECEIVED LAST SEASON????”