They Have Done the UNTHINKABLE... (The Rise of James Madison Football) 

Should the NCAA change the transition rules?

And now that JMU has even done another impossibility (beating the snot out of Coastal Carolina and taking the 1st place spot in their division of the SunBelt) just adds another reason why they should be allowed in the conference playoff. How do you explain why a team has played and finished this way is denied the chance to go further?

In Marshall's first season in the FBS in 1997, we won the MAC Title and played Ole Miss in the Motor City Bowl. Going 10-3 on the season. The rule was changed after this. I hate it. I tip my hat to JMU.

Much rather see JMU in a bowl game over a 5 win team. Good TV/ good story lines

They should change it because st Thomas the division 3 school the moved up to fcs finished 8-1 and didn’t get a chance to go to the playoffs

to continue with the sunbelt discussion, it would be interesting to see a video covering south alabamas season. went from a previous best regular season record of 6-6 to currently 9-2 with 10-2 being a real possibility. to put things in perspective, they had 9 wins total for 2020 and 2021

If you're moving down, then the rule makes sense. But if you're moving up, it makes zero sense at all, considering that on paper that school would be at a major disadvantage.

JMU Alumni here, Go Duuuuuuuukes! BEAT UVA!

James Madison will go straight up

And now we’re sitting 9-0 as of Nov 4 2023 and ranked 21 in the AP poll. This rule needs to change

I wish North Dakota State would join the Mountain West

Marshall University's first year back in 1A (now fbs) they Won the MAC and played Ole Miss in a bowl game. I don't know if their situation was different or not. They were the first team I knew of making the jump. They were a 1A school that dropped to 1AA for about 12 seasons or so and dominated after about a decade of not being competitive after the plane crash.

Great work. "The Dukes are Deserving"

Got denied again this year. Maybe enough pressure and attention will change things this season.

The "Dukes" definiteyl are the Best team in the Sunbelt.

If you appear in the top 25 at anytime in the year then you should be eligible for that year. If not the ban continues to its conclusion

And NCAA denied their application to make the transition period just 1 year instead of 2 years... crazy

Even though we got our asses kicked I'm glad we got one last playoff matchup with them before they moved up. I knew they were going to win 8+ games their first season at the fbs level, they haven't been fcs talent wise in about 7 years

They knew the rules when they went into the season. Georgia Southern ran the conference table in 2014, won the conference as a 2nd year reclassification school. Still, didn't go bowling until 2015. You don't get to change the rules because suddenly your school is the one.

And the ncaa denied a waiver for a ‘23 post season….

High school 2.0 football for me

I figure bowl organizers wouldn’t look to a team that played half its games against FCS opponents, I guess what I’m saying is, isn’t this a self correcting problem? After just because you have 6 wins doesn’t mean you make a bowl game. IDK maybe I’m talking out my rear

I'm a Troy fan and holy moly do I think James Madison got robbed. They definitely deserved to play us in the Sunbelt Championship and it definitely would have been a much better game had they been given the chance.

go dukessss

One way to avoid NDSU, bail out to FBS.

Wait a decade and they will be capable of hanging around alabama, ohio state and Georgia

This bs rule hurts recruiting as player want to play for post season. The rule doesn't make sense s if u win ur conference then u should rep ur conference. It's doing more harm then good.

im in my last semester at Jmu and this shit sucks cuz i know damn well next season we may not have a winning record... we losing a lot of players like our QB

They absolutely destroyed unc btw…they were easily the best sunbelt team

That rule is stupid. If you move up from D3 to D1 or FCS to FBS, shouldn’t you technically be at a disadvantage? Especially from a depth standpoint. The NCAA should have committees at every level to evaluate each program individually. Then determine if the program would be immediately eligible for championships, bowl games, etc. This stupid rule sucks for programs such as Georgia Southern (No bowl appearance), App State (No bowl appearance), JMU (No bowl or championship appearance) Bellarmine (No Tournament appearance), etc. who all we’re competitive or won their conference in year one. That Georgia Southern team in 2014 could’ve went 11-1 but lost close games against NC State 24-23 and Georgia Tech 42-38. And would’ve been left out of post season play due to the rule. Complete joke. If they can compete immediately, don’t punish them. Evaluate the entire program from the time they submit their applications to move up, to right before the CFP rankings are released.

That's a stupid rule. They moved up, not down.

Really dumb rule. So stupid. JMU plays good football every year. Go hokies!

forget this team they absolutely sold the two weeks I wagered on them! haha

They lost to 3 and 5 team Georgia southern thats probably why they did not make it.

Done the unthinkable ???? What ? Won a game ?