ICYMI: A thread with all three-parts of the series on the Alpha Dogs, JMU's football booster group. Part 1, how its formation 10 years ago sparked JMU's most successful era and set the Dukes on a path toward FBS.
JMU AD Jeff Bourne said the Sun Belt has already agreed that if the Dukes receive relief from the NCAA to become bowl eligible the conference would allow JMU to compete in the Sun Belt Championship Game.
They just said on air the crowd for today's College GameDay broadcast from JMU is 26,000, which I believe would make it the show's largest-ever crowd by a significant margin.
BREAKING: James Madison delivered a letter to the NCAA Board of Directors chair requesting relief from NCAA bylaws restricting transitioning teams from bowl participation.
Waiting for an official statement from Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, but someone with ties to his office says they expect him to file a lawsuit following the NCAA denying JMU's waiver attempt. That move has wide bi-partisan support among Virginia politicians.
BREAKING: James Madison delivered a letter to the NCAA Board of Directors chair requesting relief from NCAA bylaws restricting transitioning teams from bowl participation.
You won't find it on the NCAA website, but Jalen Green's 13 sacks for JMU this season are four more than any other FBS player. His 1.86 sacks per game also lead the nation by a good margin. Utah's Jonah Elliss (1.5 per game) is second is both categories.
BREAKING: James Madison delivered a letter to the NCAA Board of Directors chair requesting relief from NCAA bylaws restricting transitioning teams from bowl participation.
Hearing over the past couple of days that ODU, Marshall and Southern Miss will inform CUSA early in the week they intend to join the Sun Belt in 2022. Everything right now officially has those three joining July 1, 2023.
By the way, "James Madison" is the No. 2 trending sports topic on Twitter right now, and I don't think that even counts posts that just say JMU and not James Madison.
BTW, not only should it not take 40 years to play this game again, JMU-UVA should be an annual game with a Founding Fathers Rivalry trophy. Atmosphere is incredible.
DEVELOPING: JMU athletes have begun a social media campaign
#AthletesUnite
and have a letter of petition circulating with signatures from athletes at dozens of other NCAA schools, including more than half the
@CAASports
. Seeing more signatures by the minute.
Brewster Academy 4-star swing man Preston Fowler commits to JMU. He would become highest-ranked player by 247Sports ever to sign with the Dukes out of high school.
It appears JMU is working to finalize a deal with a new football coach, perhaps as soon as today but still some negotiating going on. I don't know for certain which coach.
JMU AD Jeff Bourne, athletic faculty rep Roger Soenksen, grad assistant Dimitri Holloway and Cliff Wood of the Montpelier Collective boarded a plane this morning bound for Worcester, Massachusetts, home of College of the Holy Cross.
When I heard about this in the stadium I thought they essentially bailed on JMU's kneel down/celebration. To leave a live game with half a quarter left is crazy. Especially when the next game hadn't even started.
Class of 2024 forward Micah Smith has committed to JMU, choosing the Dukes over Clemson, Mississippi State, Florida Gulf Coast, Bradley, Western Kentucky and others. 3-star prospect, 6-8 can play either forward position.
The NCAA committee that will decide JMU's postseason fate will meet tonight. Unclear if they will make any announcement tonight, but it's likely they have a decision.
Not a knock any particular player, but context. There was a lot of freaking out JMU lost its highest-rated recruit ever during the coaching change. Now Chesney & Co. have flipped two higher-rated players, one at the same position, today alone.
An interesting question heading into next Saturday. Does the NCAA want to get blasted for three hours on the most watched college football show or would it prefer to be praised and shift its internal focus to much more pressing legal matters?
The letter to the NCAA from Hunton Andrews Kurth, which is the largest law firm in Virginia and one of several that represents the Office of the Attorney General. Told they are very good in the antitrust realm.
#JMU
#NCAA
FINAL 2OT: James Madison 113, Kent State 108. The Dukes end the Flashes 23-game homecourt winning streak. A pair of very, very impressive victories to open the season for JMU. Dukes are at home Sunday against Howard. Any guesses on attendance for that one?
BREAKING: NCAA President Charlie Baker sent Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares a letter rejecting the AG's request JMU receive a waiver for postseason eligibility in this, its second year of FBS transition.
IM STAYING!
I appreciate all of the coaches who have offered me, but I truly believe that staying at JMU is the best option for me.
THANK YOU JMU NATION for all of the support throughout this process!
GO DUKES!
Let’s work
@CoachBobChesney
Told Louisville will pay JMU $1 million for the 2025 game. The Dukes were originally supposed to earn $500,000 to play at VT in 2025, that was bumped to $800K when the game was moved back a year. So $1.3 million net gain for JMU with the schedule change.
The Sun Belt will make a $600,000 contribution to JMU during the transition. Indicates that once the transition is complete JMU could earn $2.5 million from media rights.
COLUMN: By backing off now, JMU shows the threat of a lawsuit was always about money and prestige, not about players. If that's not the case, JMU president Jonathan Alger should step up and explain why not, because this is a bad look.
This will change before all is said and done, and doesn't mean as much in the transfer era, but JMU men's basketball has the 30th-ranked recruiting class in the nation, ahead of Kentucky, Memphis, UVA, etc. That was basically unimaginable five years ago.
About 200
#JMU
athletes are preparing to take the field prior to the Dukes football game, protesting the
@CAASports
decision to ban them from conference tournament play.
The Associated Press national player of the week in football for Week 4 of the season is Alonza Barnett III of James Madison. The Dukes' quarterback had a hand in a program-record seven touchdowns in his team's 70-50 win over North Carolina.
Attendance for the Armed Forces Bowl (Air Force-JMU, 30,828) was higher than the Cure Bowl, Famous Toastery Bowl & Myrtle Beach Bowls combined (24,812), which all also featured Sun Belt teams.
Keelan Flowe, a 3-star DB who decommitted from West Virginia and committed to JMU last week, said he will graduate early from Chambers High School in Charlotte and enroll at JMU for the spring semester.
Might get overshadowed with everything else in JMU's comeback win at App State, but true freshman Chauncey Logan is going to be an absolute star before he's done.
Hearing leaders from Sun Belt schools believe talks are heating up between Texas State and both the Pac-12 and Mountain West. Sun Belt leaders also expect several Conference USA schools to beat down their door if a spot opens up.
EA Sports NCAA Football video game will return and
@MattBrownEP
says it will include JMU & Bridgeforth Stadium. The Dukes' coaching staff is excited about that.
Sources: James Madison is targeting Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney to be the school’s next coach. A deal is expected to come together in the near future. He led Holy Cross to four FCS NCAA postseason bids.
SOURCES:
#JMU
coach Mark Byington received apologies from
#CAAHoops
commish and director of officiating, who said both technical fouls called on the Dukes yesterday during the league quarterfinals were "unwarranted" and "lacked common sense."
In Week 12,
@CollegeGameDay
experienced one of its strongest episodes this season - fueled by a record crowd onsite at
@JMU
🏈 2.2M avg. viewers
🏈 2.9M final hour viewers
🏈 7th episode this fall to eclipse 2M viewers
Christian Brown, 6-7 forward from outside Nashville, commits to JMU MBB. 3-star prospect joins 4-star Preston Fowler in the 2025 class. Chose JMU over App State, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State and others. Top-ranked player in Tennessee by PrepHoops
On the CFP teleconference, chairman Bill Hancock said the committe will consider any team that becomes postseason eligible for its rankings, including James Madison.
JMU men's soccer team earned at at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. It's been quite a month in Harrisonburg and we're not even halfway through November.
JMU is now 30-3 with 29 victories against Division I opponents. No team with that many wins has ever been left out of the NCAA Tournament since the field expanded to 64 and then 68 teams.
SBC MBB FINAL: No. 2 JMU 73, No. 11 Texas State 68. Noah Freidel with 28 points including four free throws late to secure the victory. JMU on to the conference championship game for the first time since 2013.
JMU AD Jeff Bourne, athletic faculty rep Roger Soenksen, grad assistant Dimitri Holloway and Cliff Wood of the Montpelier Collective boarded a plane this morning bound for Worcester, Massachusetts, home of College of the Holy Cross.
From the President Pro tempore of the Virginia State Senate. She and AG Jason Miyares could hardly be further apart across the aisle. Hating the NCAA is one of the very few bipartisan issues we have left in this country.
Let me remind the
@NCAA
that they are required by their charter to follow state laws where they operate. If they continue to hold
@JMUFootball
hostage to a technical rule and stop them from competing in the postseason they will face a very unfriendly future from our legislature.
FINAL IN OT: James Madison 79, No. 4 Michigan State 76. TJ Bickerstaff 21 points and 14 rebounds. Terrence Edwards with 24 for the Dukes. What a time for JMU athletics.
BREAKING NEWS: James Madison, a school named after a former president, announced with conviction kickoff times and broadcast info for three football games. New times trump any previous announcements.
#searchengineoptimization
FINAL: JMU 107, Howard 86.
Could JMU have both its men's basketball and football teams ranked by tomorrow morning? The Dukes are 3-0 with a victory at No. 4 Michigan State have have defeated three NCAA Tournament teams from last March.
Since I've been critical of JMU students for leaving games early in the past, it's only fair to point out I count 53 non-band/cheerleader people in the Georgia State student section.
If you did a Venn Diagram of things supported by Pat Forde, Jay Bilas and Barstool Sports, the only thing in the middle would be that the CAA should let JMU compete. The country hasn't been this united on an issue since Pearl Harbor.
FINAL: JMU 91, Arkansas State 71. The Dukes made it easy on the selection committee and will go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, and this won't be no play-in game.
The ceiling for this JMU team could be high if they get healthy and play well. I figured they'd have to play extremely well to be 3-0 at this point, but I don't think anyone would say they have played an "A" game yet.
James Madison received 30 points in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 poll, up from 11 last week. Coastal Carolina (11 points) only other Sun Belt team getting votes. Dukes are the second-highest non-autonomy 5 conference team behind No. 26 Cincinnati.
A federal court clerk in the Western District of Virginia said it is her understanding a civil suit against the
@NCAA
will be filed there tomorrow.
#JMU
#CFP
#GameDay