Pumping the Breaks On JMU to MACtion Speculation
News broke a few days ago that Eastern Michigan University (EMU) faculty and students officially came out in favor of the school dropping FBS football. They made their voices known by publishing a report stating that “getting rid of Division I football is a moral imperative – it will save students money and lower student debt.” Of course long before the report was published, students, faculty, and alums had voted with their feet by simply not going to football games. EMU’s season high attendance last year was a whopping 6,513 when Army came to town.
What does this have to do with JMU? Well, as soon as the news broke that EMU might be exiting the Mid American Conference (MAC) for football, eager JMU fans saw an opportunity for the Dukes to finally make the leap to FBS football. There have long been suspicions that while JMU “passed” on the Sun Belt, it is standing by ready to jump to the MAC, CUSA, or nearly any other league. Whether or not that’s a common belief of everyone in the administration or not is up for debate. Regardless, it doesn’t seem to matter because EMU is not dropping FBS football.
The university President and Board of Regents firmly stating their intent to keep FBS football is a good thing for the hundreds of EMU fans who care and several thousand others who randomly attend games because their is nothing better to do in Ypsilanti, Michigan in the Fall. It is less encouraging for JMU fans who finally saw a window of opportunities for the Dukes to exit FCS football once and for all.
We have no clue whether or not EMU leaving the MAC would mean JMU got the call up. Logic dictates that JMU is probably the most well suited FCS school to make the leap in terms of resources and support. With TV revenue declining for all but the P5 leagues however, the flavor of the month seems to be a shift to regionalized conferences. In that sense, a school like Youngstown State might get a call from the MAC before JMU should a slot ever open. Or maybe UMass would be suddenly welcomed back into the fold.
Here on JMUSB, I’ve shied away from the FCS vs. FBS debate, and largely let Todd weigh in on the topic. I’m slightly less concerned on the matter, but mainly am just sick of worrying about something that we clearly have no ability to influence.
While I get the decision to pass on the Sun Belt, I’ve actually advocated for a MAC move in the past. Admittedly, I arrived at that position with virtually no analytic rigor. For some reason I just thought some of the schools were a good “fit” for JMU. Dig into the numbers however, and it seems like there might be a case to be made that the MAC isn’t really much different than the Sunbelt. My reluctance to get behind an FBS move full bore, has always been that the perceived low ROI. The thing is though, with JMU’s $40M+ athletic budget, the powers that be either calculate ROI differently, or they fail to consider it at all.
Regardless of where you stand, recent developments show that conference movement is not dead and will probably never die. That could be a good thing if you’re holding your breath waiting for JMU to move. It could also be recipe for massive frustration with an admin that appears content to wait around forever looking for the perfect fit.
I’m fairly confident that JMU would only move up to the FBS if they got a CUSA invite. The MAC and Sun Belt may provide more opportunity to be competitive sooner, but CUSA would mean more money and a better opportunity to advance up to The American (which could be the goal in the far, far future).
For JMU to get that invite, I’m waiting for the next domino effect: Big 12 (or other P5 conference) takes AAC schools (Memphis, Cincinnati, etc.), The American takes schools from CUSA, and CUSA is left choosing between Sun Belt teams and FCS teams looking to jump up. As the CUSA expands to the Mid-Atlantic/Appalachian region (see: ODU, Charlotte, WKU), JMU could be an attractive option.
EMU just announced a couple of hours ago through the Detroit Free Press that they have no intentions of dropping football or changing conferences. Of course they could come out in about 3 months and reverse themselves. I think if JMU committed to increasing scholarships it could be competitive in the MAC but I don’t see it as a good fit for our athletic program overall. Football might work but don’t see how our other sports would work with the.distances required to get to schools in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois.
Thanks for the info. I may be in the minority, but I like FCS football for JMU. Regional rivalries. Playoffs. A chance to compete for a national championship every year. That last one might be a stretch, but you get my drift. A move up would put JMU in the murky no-man’s-land between FCS and the Power 5. What’s the advantage? Hoping to earn a trip to Montgomery for the coveted Camellia Bowl?
Birdsong is considering a return to JMU? You must be kidding … :0
Ground control to Major Tom?
Blog writers still there?
Potentially the beginning of the dominos falling? Memphis, Houston and others being considered for Big12. Fred Smith and FedEx aren’t messing around:
http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/sec-football/report-memphis-willing-spend-500-million-upgrades-join-big-12/