More than a decade in the making, James Madison’s elevation from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2022 was methodical, tortuously so to some donors, fans and alumni.
Indeed, when Old Dominion made the same jump eight years earlier, some Dukes faithful were envious of their rival and dismayed with their own leadership.
But the wisdom of then-JMU President Jon Alger, the university’s Board of Visitors and then-athletic director Jeff Bourne is evident by the Dukes’ unprecedented ascension within the FBS and Sun Belt Conference, a rise capped by last season’s College Football Playoff bid.
JMU’s current administration, led by President James Schmidt and AD Matt Roan, can only hope the Dukes’ impending move to the American Conference, the antithesis of methodical, pays similar dividends.
There’s no apparent reason to believe it won’t.
“You don’t want to wake up (from the dream), but you have to wake up long enough to keep pouring gasoline on the fire,” Roan said during a 45-minute conversation this week. “And I think that’s the wisdom of this place. We waited to join the FBS until that transition could be seamless and we could have the success that we did.
“Time was not our friend this go-round. So, it’s really kind of been a little change in philosophy. But I think the reality, and commonality, is, it’s the pursuit of excellence.”
Already an affiliate American member in women’s lacrosse and women’s swimming — the Sun Belt doesn’t sponsor those sports — JMU has long had informal discussions with American officials about full membership. But time accelerated those talks for several reasons.
Most pressing: Sun Belt officials are considering a significant increase to the league’s exit fees, currently $5 million with at least one year’s notice — the Dukes are scheduled to depart no later than July 1, 2028.
On the horizon: Higher education writ large is bracing for an “enrollment cliff,” an expected 13% drop in high school graduates during the next 15 years, a trend that reflects the nation’s declining birth rates. As JMU aspires to grow enrollment from 23,000-plus to 30,000 by 2040, joining a conference with greater television exposure and members in Tampa (South Florida), metropolitan Miami (Florida Atlantic), the DMV (Navy), New York (Army) and Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) was appealing.
Then there is football, the driver of virtually all conference realignment.
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