Post by matunuck on Nov 10, 2023 10:44:56 GMT -5
They’re the Best Story in College Football. Don’t Deny Them a Perfect Finish.
By Jason Gay, 11/9/23, Wall Street Journal
Let me give you a piece of advice: try to avoid playing James Madison University.
At anything.
This isn’t a dismissal of the thriving athletic department at the Harrisonburg,
Va., public university, enrollment 22,224. It’s quite the opposite. This warning is
delivered out of love and respect—plus some fear.
Call them Purple and Gold Cinderellas, the Shenandoah Valley Giant Killers, or
just call them by their official nickname, the Dukes. Mighty James Madison is on
a magical sports heater right now, and if you suit up against them, you’re
probably taking home an L.
Consider the freshly-elevated JMU football team, only in its second season at
college football’s highest level, currently 9-0, atop the Sun Belt conference,
ranked 21st in the country (a little disrespectful to a 9-0 team, to be honest), and
getting more poll votes than heavies like Notre Dame.
The football Dukes were good in 2022, too—head coach Curt Cignetti’s team
went 8-3 in their debut campaign in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). A
perennial playoff contender in the Football Championship Subdivision (once
known as Division I-AA), JMU is one of the most surprising stories in U.S. sports
right now…so of course the NCAA may ruin the vibe, and deny the Dukes a
deserved bowl because of a fussy rule.
(More on that in a minute.)
James Madison’s magical autumn (which includes a win over Power Five
neighbor Virginia) extends far beyond football. A couple of nights ago, JMU’s
unranked men’s basketball team stunned No. 4 Michigan State at Michigan State
—only the program’s second win over a Top 25 opponent, and the first since
1992.
The week before that, the Dukes men’s soccer team shocked the No. 1 squad in
the country, the University of Central Florida.
“It’s just been insane,” said Jackson Hephner, co-sports editor of the JMU
student newspaper, The Breeze. “Every day, something crazier happens.”
Momentum is everywhere. James Madison’s women’s soccer team qualified for
the NCAA tournament, with an opening round game Friday against South
Carolina. The Dukes’ volleyball team—defending Sun Belt champs—is very good.
So is cross-country. The JMU women’s basketball team has been picked to go
back-to-back as conference champions.
“It’s just been a really cool feeling,” said Ellie Johnson, a senior on women’s
soccer. “This shared identity, this sense of community…the national
recognition.”
“We all really root for each other,” said Francis Meehan, a senior safety on the
football Dukes. “We’re not only a football school, we’re just a really good
athletics school, period.”
(I should mention—this is important—the 500-plus member JMU marching
band also rules. “We are very, very proud of the band,” says Hephner, who’s a
part-time member. He plays the mellophone, a version of the French horn for
marching bands.)
As for the fuss on the football team and bowls, here’s the deal: As it stands right
now, undefeated James Madison isn’t eligible for the postseason. That means no
Sun Belt conference championship, and no bowl bid.
(Sad mellophone sound, please.)
For this, as almost always, you can thank the NCAA. The governing body’s rules
insist on a two-year “transition period” for teams making the FBS leap, during
which they are prohibited from postseason play. The NCAA wants to avoid
schools making reckless jumps they’re not equipped to handle—the exact
opposite of the situation at JMU, where athletic director Jeff Bourne and school
president Jonathan Alger began laying the groundwork a decade ago.
“This has been a long time coming,” Alger told me. “We wanted to make sure we
had the financial pieces, the academic pieces.”
James Madison continues to plead its case. Last spring, it appealed to the NCAA
for a waiver to reduce its transition period from two years to one. That waiver
was denied. The school followed up with another letter this week, asking for the
NCAA to reconsider. The Sun Belt conference has also endorsed JMU’s appeal.
“Everybody wants to see a story where the opportunity exists for the institution
that may not have been there before, has done things the right way, and has a
great group of student athletes,” said Bourne, who will step down this spring as
athletic director following a 25-year run. “I think this is a wonderful story.”
The JMU brass are diplomatic, because that’s what you do when you’re trying to
win an appeal. For everyone who says they knew the rules—yes, they indeed
knew the rules, and the need for oversight of fledgling FBS teams.
But who could have foreseen what these Dukes have done? A college team
moving up to FBS is supposed to endure a stretch of pain and mediocrity before
the wins start flowing.
A 9-0 record in Year Two, and possibly running the table? It’s bonkers.
And it isn’t like James Madison is banging on the door of the Half-Eaten
Blueberry Scone Bowl presented by the Turnip Appreciation Council. If they stay
unbeaten, they’d have a path to a New Year’s Day bowl as the top-ranked member
of the “Group of Five,” the quintet of conferences apart from the Power Five.
Rules are rules, but isn’t this the kind of charming underdog saga that the
college game is supposed to encourage?
There is a backdoor way that James Madison could play in a bowl: If there aren’t
enough bowl-eligible teams with a .500 record, they would be allowed to accept
an invitation. Instead of scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar for a 5-7
team, a hungry bowl would be able to welcome the juggernaut Dukes.
(To the competition: feel free to lose.)
A confession: I said at the beginning of this column that everyone should avoid
playing James Madison. I take it back. I want to see the Dukes, preferably
perfect, playing in January. And so should college football.
By Jason Gay, 11/9/23, Wall Street Journal
Let me give you a piece of advice: try to avoid playing James Madison University.
At anything.
This isn’t a dismissal of the thriving athletic department at the Harrisonburg,
Va., public university, enrollment 22,224. It’s quite the opposite. This warning is
delivered out of love and respect—plus some fear.
Call them Purple and Gold Cinderellas, the Shenandoah Valley Giant Killers, or
just call them by their official nickname, the Dukes. Mighty James Madison is on
a magical sports heater right now, and if you suit up against them, you’re
probably taking home an L.
Consider the freshly-elevated JMU football team, only in its second season at
college football’s highest level, currently 9-0, atop the Sun Belt conference,
ranked 21st in the country (a little disrespectful to a 9-0 team, to be honest), and
getting more poll votes than heavies like Notre Dame.
The football Dukes were good in 2022, too—head coach Curt Cignetti’s team
went 8-3 in their debut campaign in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). A
perennial playoff contender in the Football Championship Subdivision (once
known as Division I-AA), JMU is one of the most surprising stories in U.S. sports
right now…so of course the NCAA may ruin the vibe, and deny the Dukes a
deserved bowl because of a fussy rule.
(More on that in a minute.)
James Madison’s magical autumn (which includes a win over Power Five
neighbor Virginia) extends far beyond football. A couple of nights ago, JMU’s
unranked men’s basketball team stunned No. 4 Michigan State at Michigan State
—only the program’s second win over a Top 25 opponent, and the first since
1992.
The week before that, the Dukes men’s soccer team shocked the No. 1 squad in
the country, the University of Central Florida.
“It’s just been insane,” said Jackson Hephner, co-sports editor of the JMU
student newspaper, The Breeze. “Every day, something crazier happens.”
Momentum is everywhere. James Madison’s women’s soccer team qualified for
the NCAA tournament, with an opening round game Friday against South
Carolina. The Dukes’ volleyball team—defending Sun Belt champs—is very good.
So is cross-country. The JMU women’s basketball team has been picked to go
back-to-back as conference champions.
“It’s just been a really cool feeling,” said Ellie Johnson, a senior on women’s
soccer. “This shared identity, this sense of community…the national
recognition.”
“We all really root for each other,” said Francis Meehan, a senior safety on the
football Dukes. “We’re not only a football school, we’re just a really good
athletics school, period.”
(I should mention—this is important—the 500-plus member JMU marching
band also rules. “We are very, very proud of the band,” says Hephner, who’s a
part-time member. He plays the mellophone, a version of the French horn for
marching bands.)
As for the fuss on the football team and bowls, here’s the deal: As it stands right
now, undefeated James Madison isn’t eligible for the postseason. That means no
Sun Belt conference championship, and no bowl bid.
(Sad mellophone sound, please.)
For this, as almost always, you can thank the NCAA. The governing body’s rules
insist on a two-year “transition period” for teams making the FBS leap, during
which they are prohibited from postseason play. The NCAA wants to avoid
schools making reckless jumps they’re not equipped to handle—the exact
opposite of the situation at JMU, where athletic director Jeff Bourne and school
president Jonathan Alger began laying the groundwork a decade ago.
“This has been a long time coming,” Alger told me. “We wanted to make sure we
had the financial pieces, the academic pieces.”
James Madison continues to plead its case. Last spring, it appealed to the NCAA
for a waiver to reduce its transition period from two years to one. That waiver
was denied. The school followed up with another letter this week, asking for the
NCAA to reconsider. The Sun Belt conference has also endorsed JMU’s appeal.
“Everybody wants to see a story where the opportunity exists for the institution
that may not have been there before, has done things the right way, and has a
great group of student athletes,” said Bourne, who will step down this spring as
athletic director following a 25-year run. “I think this is a wonderful story.”
The JMU brass are diplomatic, because that’s what you do when you’re trying to
win an appeal. For everyone who says they knew the rules—yes, they indeed
knew the rules, and the need for oversight of fledgling FBS teams.
But who could have foreseen what these Dukes have done? A college team
moving up to FBS is supposed to endure a stretch of pain and mediocrity before
the wins start flowing.
A 9-0 record in Year Two, and possibly running the table? It’s bonkers.
And it isn’t like James Madison is banging on the door of the Half-Eaten
Blueberry Scone Bowl presented by the Turnip Appreciation Council. If they stay
unbeaten, they’d have a path to a New Year’s Day bowl as the top-ranked member
of the “Group of Five,” the quintet of conferences apart from the Power Five.
Rules are rules, but isn’t this the kind of charming underdog saga that the
college game is supposed to encourage?
There is a backdoor way that James Madison could play in a bowl: If there aren’t
enough bowl-eligible teams with a .500 record, they would be allowed to accept
an invitation. Instead of scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar for a 5-7
team, a hungry bowl would be able to welcome the juggernaut Dukes.
(To the competition: feel free to lose.)
A confession: I said at the beginning of this column that everyone should avoid
playing James Madison. I take it back. I want to see the Dukes, preferably
perfect, playing in January. And so should college football.