James Madison: The strangest undefeated team in college football

[Greenrex]

This is a portion of an article from today's (Friday Oct 27 2023) The Pulse/The Athletic The strangest undefeated team in college football

There are weird stories, and then there is the tale of the 2023 James Madison football team. The Dukes are undefeated and arguably the most impressive Group of 5 team (a college football term similar to “mid-major”). They’re also not allowed to win anything of substance.    Some quick background:  James Madison entered FBS last year after nearly 20 years as an FCS powerhouse. From 2004 to 2021, the Dukes made 13 playoff appearances, winning two national title games. The move up made sense.   Due to an NCAA rule, they are not allowed to play in any postseason game as part of their transition to FBS (more on this in a bit). It hasn’t slowed them down. They went 8-3 in their first FBS season last year and sit 7-0 right now, ranked No. 25.  Virginia legislators are making noise about fighting the NCAA over it. I turned to The Athletic’s senior college football writer Chris Vannini to help me make sense of JMU:    This team feels like such a unique occurrence. What's the most interesting part to you? Chris: JMU has gone on this 15-3 start in FBS while breaking in new quarterbacks both years. This year, Jordan McCloud transferred in from Arizona and leads the Sun Belt in pass efficiency. JMU hasn’t missed a step while making such a big jump, despite major change at a key position.   Is the NCAA rule banning JMU from competing in postseason play as unfair as it looks from here? Chris: The rule itself, no. It’s been around for two decades, and people know the rule. Many schools have faced this same problem. Georgia Southern went 8-0 in conference play in its second transition year in 2014 and didn’t get a bowl game.    Say JMU goes undefeated. They won't be under actual Playoff consideration, right? Chris: Right. For New Year’s Six games, the CFP only considers teams deemed eligible by the NCAA. This also means JMU won’t be in next week’s initial CFP rankings, even if they’re top-25 in the polls.   And, wait, why are they good? As Max Olson writes, a nasty defense has propelled the Dukes thus far.

[NT80]

If they were in a P5 conference there would be a waiver or an exception to the rule.  But since they are not there will be no variances allowed.

[El Paso Eagle]

PS - Their DC makes less than $200K 

Please explain to me how Morris was not able to get a very experienced and proven DC?

[GrayEagle]

I'll admit that it is a rarity that the defense carries the offense but it seems to be working at JMU.  While they won't be eligible for the playoffs, they should get a minor bowl and they can start building their prominence.  

[UNTcrazy727]

The dumbest part of this rule is they can't even play in the Sun Belt Title game. In basketball, teams are still able to play in the conference tourney and be crowned champs, but if they're still in the transition period, the 2nd place team goes to the NCAA tourney. Why can't the same be done in football?

Edited October 30, 2023 by UNTcrazy727

[NT93]

On 10/29/2023 at 6:44 PM, GrayEagle said:

I'll admit that it is a rarity that the defense carries the offense but it seems to be working at JMU.  While they won't be eligible for the playoffs, they should get a minor bowl and they can start building their prominence.  

It is my understanding that they are ineligible to play in a bowl game since that would be post season.

[Matt from A700]

Dumb rule but that's how it's been... You'd think it'd go away sometime in the future.

If a program can move up to a tougher division and still dominate, they should be rewarded.

[Salsa_Verde]

The NCAA keep reminding colleges why ultimately they’re not needed and only serve as a hindrance