In Defense of the Dukes

In what will come as a shock to nearly all observers, the NCAA has decided to take a principled stand. Are they forcing PAC-12 institutions to honor their commitments to Washington State and Oregon State as they detonate the legacy conference? Wait, maybe they're prepared to acknowledge the fact that "student-athletes" are core to enormous business of major collegiate sports and have chosen to cut the kids in on the cash! Or, perhaps, they're going to throw the book at Michigan's football program in a timely fashion and bar the Wolverines from extending their splendid season into the playoffs?

Nah, mate. They're gonna make JMU hold to a standard established because the NCAA was apprehensive that colleges moving up a football division would be unprepared.

JMU was prepared.

Since they stepped up a level in competition, the Dukes are 17-3. Only Tulane has a better record among Group of Five teams. JMU are undefeated this year with road wins against UVA and Marshall. The school has also excelled across other athletic programs. In addition to football winning the Sun Belt Conference's East Division in 2022, JMU Volleyball and Women's Basketball won conference titles, and the lacrosse program made the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. Our friends in Harrisonburg have been the very model of an athletic program that planned and prepared exceptionally well for a move up in class.

This season's Dukes are 9-0, ranked 21st in the nation, with home games to play against Connecticut and Appalachian State before their season finale at Coastal Carolina. They'll be favored in all of those games. Should they win out, they'll win the Sun Belt East again, and by rights secure a berth in the conference championship game. Were they to be allowed to play in that game and win it, they'd likely earn a spot in a New Year's Day bowl. Says here that if they earn it on the field, they should be given the chance to keep going.

Let us stipulate that JMU knew the rules when they made the choice to move up the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. And we agree that those rules exist for a reason - moving to FBS from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level requires a serious commitment and can be a daunting thing. Schools that choose to do so should be required to demonstrate that they understand and are serious about the undertaking, and a two-year moratorium on postseason football is a reasonable way to communicate that message to programs considering the leap.

It's also reasonable for an entity charged with oversight and compliance to review a new set of facts and conclude that an institution has clearly met the obligations implicit in its standard and allow common sense to play a role in its decision-making process. A waiver in this case is warranted, it says here. And a waiver is just that - a deviation from a standard based upon evidence and facts. A waiver is not (and we shouldn't need to say this) a change to the standard.

All of this will be moot for the next JMU, because the NCAA will cease to exist as a governing body before too long. But in the words of the denizens of the Houston Astrodome many years ago, let them play.