I have learned my lesson. Twice in the last year I have said Appalachian State will lose, and twice I have been wrong.

First, I thought for sure Don Brown and the Massachusetts Minutemen would take the Championship game over ASU last December. But I will cut myself a break for siding with former Northeastern head coach Brown and an extremely talented UMass team. Besides, the 28-17 Appalachian State win was close, and one of the better I-AA (oops, I mean Football Championship Subdivision) games I have seen.

But I thought I would see pigs fly, hell freeze over and my beloved Atlanta Braves in this year’s World Series before Appalachian State beat Michigan Saturday. But it happened. I was sitting in Cabot between volleyball games watching the whole thing on the computer. And while I take a certain amount of smug pleasure from the Michigan loss I still can’t believe it happened.

It’s not like it was the first time a FCS team beat an I-A (oops again, I mean Bowl Championship Subdivision) opponent. Last season it hit close to home when New Hampshire beat BCS Northwestern to open the season. Then Northeastern beat New Hampshire, which through the football transitive property, should mean Northeastern beats Northwestern. Too bad that didn’t come true last weekend when the Wildcats topped the Huskies 27-0.

But there are certain BCS teams that should never, ever lose to an FCS team and Michigan is one of them. Well, until the twilight zone opened in Ann Arbor.

And I think if you throw those same two teams out on the field again this Saturday, Michigan would win. If you line them up 100 more times, I say Michigan takes them all. Appalachian State can beat a lot of FBS teams, (they are the two-time defending National Champions, after all) but I think this game was a fluke. It was an anomaly, one of those great sports moments that slides nicely into highlight reels, record books and “remember when” conversations.

Formerly No. 5, Michigan took their hits on this loss. They are now out of the AP Top 25 poll and are dealing with all the media scrutiny that comes with losing. Since the AP poll expanded to 25 teams in 1989, no team has taken a bigger tumble in one week.

But they will pick up this week and move on. They will still have a good season and they will certainly beat Oregon this weekend. There isn’t a more determined group of football players anywhere in the country right now. This loss won’t derail the whole season, but they certainly won’t be in contention for the National Championship either. They will, however, be back in the Top 25.

Appalachian State has a lot to live up to now, but can they go undefeated? I hope so. What a great story that could be. This week they take on Lenoir-Rhyne (which sounds more like a country singer than a college football team) in their home opener. Lenoir-Rhyne went 3-8 last season and opened the 2007 campaign with a 28-13 loss to Virginia Union. If ASU doesn’t win this one it’s a bigger upset than the Mountaineers stunning Michigan.

And if Appalachian State and UMass should meet again, my money is on ASU.

Sorry, Don.