JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

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JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by rufus »

From the Harrisonburg Daily News Record (subscription):
Bourne: I-A Closer

HARRISONBURG - If you’ve been pining for James Madison to seriously consider a jump to Division I-A football, you’re going to like this: Athletic director Jeff Bourne said Monday it could happen sooner than anyone expected.

...

So what are the odds of Madison moving up?

“I think it is very likely something like this could happen,” Bourne said. “I would guess you could see movement in 18-24 months.”
This type of talk represents a major shift from our administration. As recently as this summer, they continued to stick with their "we're happy where we are, we don't see a move anytime in the near future, and we want to be among the best in FCS" lines. Based on our admin's historical performance, it would be very unusual for them to make a statement like this unless something were already in the works.

Obviously nothing is certain at this point, but I believe this statement means we are roughly in the same boat as App State -- actively looking for the right spot in FBS. It will be interesting to see how things play out. I have to imagine that JMU is not the only current FCS school involved in whatever move our AD forsees in the next 18-24 months.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by jmufan »

Here is another Bourne quote. Sounds like the formation of a new east coast conference could be in the works.
Bourne said, without prompting, that he could see JMU becoming a charter member of a conference comprised of upper-level I-AA schools and lower-level I-A schools – schools such as Appalachian State, Delaware, Marshall, Ohio University and Old Dominion.
With the 16 team conference, it really does look like the FCS is going to be third tier and FBS 2nd tier behind the super conferences. Better to be 2nd tier than 3rd tier.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by danefan »

jmufan wrote:Here is another Bourne quote. Sounds like the formation of a new east coast conference could be in the works.
Bourne said, without prompting, that he could see JMU becoming a charter member of a conference comprised of upper-level I-AA schools and lower-level I-A schools – schools such as Appalachian State, Delaware, Marshall, Ohio University and Old Dominion.
With the 16 team conference, it really does look like the FCS is going to be third tier and FBS 2nd tier behind the super conferences. Better to be 2nd tier than 3rd tier.
There already is 3 tiers - BCS, the rest of FBS and FCS.

What you've described is a demotion of the FBS teams. Not necessarily a promotion for those FCS teams.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by mcveyrl »

danefan wrote:
jmufan wrote:Here is another Bourne quote. Sounds like the formation of a new east coast conference could be in the works.

With the 16 team conference, it really does look like the FCS is going to be third tier and FBS 2nd tier behind the super conferences. Better to be 2nd tier than 3rd tier.
There already is 3 tiers - BCS, the rest of FBS and FCS.

What you've described is a demotion of the FBS teams. Not necessarily a promotion for those FCS teams.
Exactly...I'm not sure much would change, other than football costing more and no playoffs...

Not a fan of this move.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by rufus »

mcveyrl wrote:Exactly...I'm not sure much would change, other than football costing more and no playoffs...

Not a fan of this move.
There are already three tiers in Division I football: BCS, non-BCS FBS, and FCS. We would move from tier 3 to tier 2. To me, the greatest benefit is the ability to schedule better OOC home games. Schools in the MAC, CUSA, etc. schedule home games with BCS teams on a fairly regular basis.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by mcveyrl »

rufus wrote:
mcveyrl wrote:Exactly...I'm not sure much would change, other than football costing more and no playoffs...

Not a fan of this move.
There are already three tiers in Division I football: BCS, non-BCS FBS, and FCS. We would move from tier 3 to tier 2. To me, the greatest benefit is the ability to schedule better OOC home games. Schools in the MAC, CUSA, etc. schedule home games with BCS teams on a fairly regular basis.

I don't know that getting a bunch of BCS teams to agree to 2 for 1's is worth losing what's a nationally competitive program at our current level. Right now our goal is playoffs and national championship. At that level our goal is the Big Middle South Conference Championship and a trip to Charlotte for a regional bowl on Dec. 20.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by ASUG8 »

If App and JMU are hitching their wagons to going FBS for certain then I'm a much bigger fan of this than getting stuck in the no man's land of Sunbelt or CUSA. I'm not sure if the teams mentioned become more or less relevant than today, but it would be a nice shakeup and still have some nice regional rivals and teams with some history.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by danefan »

rufus wrote:
mcveyrl wrote:Exactly...I'm not sure much would change, other than football costing more and no playoffs...

Not a fan of this move.
There are already three tiers in Division I football: BCS, non-BCS FBS, and FCS. We would move from tier 3 to tier 2. To me, the greatest benefit is the ability to schedule better OOC home games. Schools in the MAC, CUSA, etc. schedule home games with BCS teams on a fairly regular basis.
They do?
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by rufus »

danefan wrote:
rufus wrote: There are already three tiers in Division I football: BCS, non-BCS FBS, and FCS. We would move from tier 3 to tier 2. To me, the greatest benefit is the ability to schedule better OOC home games. Schools in the MAC, CUSA, etc. schedule home games with BCS teams on a fairly regular basis.
They do?
Yes, they do. Most host a BCS school at least once every 2-3 years. Many do every year.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by CAA Flagship »

rufus wrote:
danefan wrote:
They do?
Yes, they do. Most host a BCS school at least once every 2-3 years. Many do every year.
Duke hosted Alabama last year. :nod: Oh wait. :oops:
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by 93henfan »

The Big East should have plenty of football slots in about two years, right about the same time it loses it BCS bid.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by danefan »

rufus wrote:
danefan wrote:
They do?
Yes, they do. Most host a BCS school at least once every 2-3 years. Many do every year.
Not counting the Big East which will likely not be a BCS league in the very near future as 93Hen said.

What other BCS schools are travelling to MAC schools? Honest question - I've never heard of that.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by bluehenbillk »

The college football landscape is definitely changing. What is for certain is there will be an elite class - 64 teams probably from 4 leagues that will finally crown a national champ the right way.

After that you'll have the MAC's, C-USA's, Mtn West's, Sun Belts, WAC's, Big East & Big 12 leftovers. They'll all be officially Tier 2 schools, or whatever term they're going to use. Could there be some FCS teams joining that mix? Well UMass already has, App has talked about it, now maybe JMU & others. I've heard rumblings that once they do this they still may have 85 schollies or they may reduce it somewhat.

Then you'll have what is FCS today. We've heard for what 15 years now that FCS was endangered? I see one of two scenarios: 1- Business as usual - nothing really changes from today except a handful of teams move up, or 2- many of the FCS power conference teams move up & what is left in FCS is a fewer scholarship model of your NEC, Big South, Patriot level type of teams.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by JMUpurplehazed »

I know some will freak on me for this...winning the NC while great as an FCS program is not the end all be all... Many think that beating VT is a bigger win than the 04 NC...I'd rather have an awesome "finished" stadium with 30-40K every home game and some packed/great OC home games and even better tailgating than dream of an 1/4 empty 20,000 seater in Frisco TX. Don't get me wrong, I love FCS and I'd love another NC but I'm open minded to other choices...
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by ∞∞∞ »

FBS sucks. What's the difference between playing Appy in the FCS or Appy in the FBS, other than at the end of the season you get to play in a game that you could've scheduled yourself. Revamp the FBS so that all teams have a shot at a National Championship and then it makes sense. Otherwise, meh...
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by FCSftblnet »

Vote JMU @ William & Mary as the FCS Football Network's Game of the Week.

The winner will be featured on the FCS Football Network's podcast and on FCSFootballNetwork.com.

Here are the other finalists:

Montana State @ Eastern Washington

Youngstown State @ Indiana State

Liberty @ Lehigh

New Hampshire @ Richmond

Chattanooga @ Appalachian State


Currently, Youngstown St vs. Indiana St is leading with JMU @ WM in second. Voting closes at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by 93henfan »

FCSftblnet wrote:Vote JMU @ William & Mary as the FCS Football Network's Game of the Week.

The winner will be featured on the FCS Football Network's podcast and on FCSFootballNetwork.com.

Here are the other finalists:

Montana State @ Eastern Washington

Youngstown State @ Indiana State

Liberty @ Lehigh

New Hampshire @ Richmond

Chattanooga @ Appalachian State


Currently, Youngstown St vs. Indiana St is leading with JMU @ WM in second. Voting closes at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

No.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by Skjellyfetti »

danefan wrote:
Not counting the Big East which will likely not be a BCS league in the very near future as 93Hen said.

What other BCS schools are travelling to MAC schools? Honest question - I've never heard of that.
Akron - hosted Syracuse this year (I'm exempting Syracuse from your Big East clause since it looks like they're moving to the ACC) and hosted Indiana in 2010,

Bowling Green - hosted Minnesota in 2008

Buffalo - hosted Pittsburgh in 2008 (exempted from your Big East clause since it appears they're moving to the ACC)

Miami (OH) - hosted Northwestern, Syracuse, and Vanderbilt in past few years

Ohio University - hosted Pittsburgh

Ball State - hosted Indiana

Central Michigan - hosted Indiana

Toledo - hosted Arizona, Kansas, (Purdue and Iowa State in same year), Colorado

Western Michigan - hosted Indiana


So, looks like we've got some Pac-12, Big 10, SEC, (future) ACC, and Big XII representation.

You were saying? :coffee:
Last edited by Skjellyfetti on Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by 93henfan »

It would appear that scheduling Pittsburgh and Indiana is as easy as banging a chick from Towson on the first date.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by Skjellyfetti »

Yeah, figured y'all would probably want to amend it to count only top-tier BCS programs.

But, you can see why... at least from a scheduling perspective... FBS is appealing to schools like JMU and App.

JMU's OOC home schedule this year: Central Connecticut State
App's OOC home schedule this year: Savannah State, NC A&T

The possibility of hosting some lower level BCS teams... or even regional non-BCS teams like ECU is very appealing. The myth that BCS schools don't travel outside of the BCS is just wrong. It's FCS they don't travel to.
Last edited by Skjellyfetti on Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by andy7171 »

93henfan wrote:It would appear that scheduling Pittsburgh and Indiana is as easy as banging a chick from Towson on the first date.
You got that shit right.


DF, Maryland traveled to and lost to MTSU a few years ago. :lol:
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by JmuSkinsfan »

ECU has hosted VT twice in the last 5 years. I think they did a 4 game home and home package.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by rufus »

andy7171 wrote:
93henfan wrote:It would appear that scheduling Pittsburgh and Indiana is as easy as banging a chick from Towson on the first date.
You got that **** right.


DF, Maryland traveled to and lost to MTSU a few years ago. :lol:
That couldn't have happened. Everyone knows that BCS teams would never travel to MAC or Sun Belt schools. ESPN's website must be wrong, because it says that MTSU has hosted Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Maryland, Virginia, and Louisville in the past six years. ESPN needs to get their facts straight.

Maybe MTSU is just an exception, since they're such a powerhouse.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by State Line Liquors »

Arguments here aside, hosting Indiana and Syracuse and whatever small incremental increase you might get for bringing them in to play at your stadium once every 5 years is not enough to justify moving to 1A football.

What fills the seats is a league where you can hate your rivals that you play once a year.
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Re: JMU AD: Move to FBS "very likely" in 18-24 months

Post by DSUrocks07 »

FCS related: Looks like some more spots will be opening up in the CAA in a couple years.

What (if any) is the CAA exit fee?
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