And then, as a way for both of you to foster a new partnership, just ask: Who the hell is stopping JMU from a bowl game? Or maybe even better: who would be hurt if the NCAA allowed JMU to play in a bowl game?
In a college football world that’s perpetually twisted, if not completely torn apart, that’s the easiest problem to solve. It would take a phone call from NCAA President Charlie Baker to JMU athletic director Jeff Bourne: “Sorry for the headache. You are there. Good luck.
“We met all the standards,” Bourne said Tuesday during a Zoom call with reporters. “We have proven, not only in football but in all other sports, that we are extremely competitive. In that case…I don’t know what more could be done on JMU’s part to prove that we are not prepared to be treated equally when it comes to a bowl opportunity. There is simply no other reason.
Bourne spoke calmly, in a measured tone. But sometimes he seemed exasperated. Who can blame him? He was away less than 24 hours send a letter to Jere Morehead, chairman of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, making a final plea for sanity.
Forgive him if he loses his.
“I’m laughing because it’s very, very difficult to try to anticipate in today’s environment what relief might be provided by the NCAA,” Bourne said.
Laugh, Jeff, because if you don’t, you’ll cry.
It’s silly. JMU is 9-0. He won five road games, including at Virginia and Marshall. In 2022, he went 8-3 while facing 10 FBS opponents. Some quick math shows the Dukes are 17-3 in 2022 and 2023 combined, just shy of Tulane’s 20-3 mark as the best among the Group of Five conferences. They don’t play children’s games. They play against their peers.
Why have the Dukes played fewer games than the Green Wave? Well, partly because Tulane was able to make the American Athletic Conference championship game last season and then advanced to the Cotton Bowl, where it beat USC. You think it doesn’t matter to a school, a program or the players who make it there?
That’s what’s at stake for the Dukes, who could finish this season as the top-ranked team in the Group of Five – a status that could give them access to a prestigious “New Year’s Six” bowl game. As it stands, the Sun Belt Conference, following the NCAA’s lead, won’t even allow the Dukes to play in their title game.
Dukes are not impostors. They showed in their planning and commitment – in terms of finances and facilities – that they more than fit the bill.
“Winning at this level like we did this year, I think, really accentuates the preparation for where we are,” Bourne said. “And I think that adds significantly to our case and to the public perception.”
This should not be a PR campaign. This should be a common sense campaign. An NCAA spokesperson said the organization received JMU’s application, which “will be reviewed by the appropriate membership committees in a timely manner.”
Tick, tick, tick. JMU’s regular season ends November 25. The Sun Belt title game – which it could host – will take place on December 2. Let’s assemble the appropriate membership committees immediately. Or bypass them altogether.
Why are we discussing this? It wouldn’t have taken a letter from Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) to get Baker’s attention. Miyares wrote to Baker in October requesting a waiver. Baker denied this, countering that “if changes to the FCS to FBS reclassification process are warranted, they should be addressed through legislation that applies to all schools reclassified from FCS to FBS.”
If you’re running an organization built on red tape and red tape, you’d better rely on red tape and bureaucracy in your decisions, right?
That brings us to Monday’s letter to Morehead, signed by Bourne, JMU President Jonathan Alger and JMU Provost Maribeth Herod. Morehead, whose day job is president of the University of Georgia, should know something about quality football.
“Our university has embarked on this transition like no other institution has since the transition rules changed 23 years ago; and our student-athletes have achieved an astonishing and unprecedented level of success during this time,” the letter read. “Relief that allows our student-athletes to participate in a bowl game, as their game has earned, is warranted. »
That’s important because it’s not about the administration, or Bourne, or Coach Curt Cignetti, who is 50-8 in his fifth season. It’s about the players. They put in the work. They deserve the rewards.
“Anytime you lose the opportunity to be in those final rankings, it’s a criminal penalty for our student-athletes, and it hurts them,” Bourne said. “And those of us in the NCAA who do what we do every day, you don’t want anything to harm your student-athletes.”
College football will take forms never before considered to create the results we want. USC and UCLA can basically blow up a conference with over a century of history because another conference promises more money. The NCAA wants Congress to hold his hand as he navigates the new – and fair – world in which athletes can profit from the use of their name, image and likeness.
And This Is this where NCAA leaders decide to take a principled stand? On James Madison’s 9-0 football team? As JMU said in its letter to Morehead, “The current, rigid application of the rule, which removes a deserved playoff opportunity in this instance, is indefensible.”
So stop defending him, NCAA. Sit with common sense. Have a cup of coffee. Set aside your rules and dissolve your committees. Make the right decision – and soon: JMU is better than many programs that will play bowl games. Why the hell keep the Dukes away?
