{"id":2986,"date":"2011-09-21T08:14:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-21T12:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2986"},"modified":"2011-09-22T20:40:10","modified_gmt":"2011-09-23T00:40:10","slug":"ad-says-jmu-to-1a-in-18-24-months-very-likely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=2986","title":{"rendered":"AD says JMU to 1A in 18-24 months “very likely”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Story<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pigs\u00a0may fly after all.\u00a0 After years of responding to questions about the possibility of JMU moving up to the FBS (1A) level in football with responses like “not under the current administration” and “over my dead body,” Athletic Director Jeff Bourne told the Daily News Record yesterday that “I think it is very likely this could happen.\u00a0 I think you could see movement in the next 18-24 months.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Talk about news to wake up to!\u00a0 And here I was all set to write a Field Hockey post thanks to a new interview with Coach Lucas.<\/p>\n

We’d seriously love to link\u00a0 you to the original story, but in case you didn’t know, the DNR is a subscription service so it probably wouldn’t help all that much for most of us.\u00a0 That said, here’s the rest of the important bits with much love to DNR for asking the questions in light of the enormous shakeup going on throughout college footbal.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 schools such as Appalachian State, Delaware, Marshall, Ohio University and Old Dominion.<\/em>
\nWhile that would mean the end of meaningful rivalries with the Richmonds and William & Marys \u2013 programs likely to remain in what is now Division I-AA \u2014 it would put Madison in a conference of completely like-minded universities, meaning all would be committed to football as well as basketball.<\/em>
\nBourne also believes it would be cozy enough geographically to be cost effective.<\/em>
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re going to start a league, ideally, from scratch, you\u2019d want to have one where your travel costs are reasonable and the institutions are similar,\u201d he said.<\/em>
\nAsked if a new I-A league might fit under the CAA umbrella, Bourne said, \u201cI guess it\u2019s always possible.\u201d But he quickly added it\u2019s not likely because he would prefer everybody in a I-A conference also play football. The Colonial includes basketball-only programs, such as George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth.<\/em><\/p>\n

To JMU’s tremendous credit, Bourn mentioned precisely this scenario back in 2008 when discussing the expansion of Bridgeforth Stadium.\u00a0 Whether or not the stadium, and this potential move, turn out to be a good idea financially and ideaologically, remains to be seen, but you can’t say JMU didn’t plan for this or is just being reactionary to as the effects trickle down from the mega-conference\/BCS cartel.<\/p>\n

Our Take<\/strong><\/p>\n

As some of you may know who have been reading a while, Rob and I have diverged slightly on the idea of moving up.\u00a0 I’ve always been gung-ho about it, at times naively, while Rob has frequently touted the great things about FCS (namely winning consistently and playing for a championship) and\u00a0been more cautious about the pitfalls of such a move.<\/p>\n

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Did you really think we built this for CCSU?<\/p><\/div>\n

But all Dukes fans are smartest enough to see two things that make this move both inevitable and sound.\u00a0 First, the landscape of college football is set to change in a major way, and second, the stadium speaks for itself.\u00a0 In other words, JMU has clearly been positioning themselves as a “football school” to the tune of 68 million dollars for the new Bridgeforth Stadium we all love so much.\u00a0 This, or something like this, is going to happen and honestly, the news was less shocking than the WVU @ FedEx Field morning.<\/p>\n

Yes, I can already hear the cries from\u00a0some parts base that playing second-tier FBS football is less exciting and more expensive than FCS, epecially\u00a0when the four or five super-conferences work even harder to keep the BCS for themselves, and freeze out everyone else.\u00a0\u00a0That’s missing the point.\u00a0 Am I looking\u00a0forward to\u00a0JMU playing in a money-losing bowl in Shreveport against Central Northwest Arkansas A&T?\u00a0 No, I’m not.\u00a0 But I’m a JMU psycho and I’m not sure I would, or could, throw everything aside for trip to Frisco, Texas to play in front of a half-full stadium for a 1-AA Championship either.\u00a0 There are already three tiers (BCS, non BCS D-1, and FCS) and this is about moving up from Tier 3 to Tier 2.\u00a0\u00a0It’s about joining with\u00a0like-minded and similarly-sized schools that take football seriously\u00a0in a conference that makes\u00a0geographic sense for\u00a0all sports\u00a0where\u00a0some of the most powerful political\u00a0voices don’t make\u00a0financial\u00a0decisions without considering football (VCU, GMU).\u00a0\u00a0And lastly, it’s about positioning.\u00a0 In the same way JMU was ahead of the game by building Bridgeforth out to be ready for this college football shakeup, it would be nice to think this will put them in better position ten years from now when the current BCS deal runs its course and the next earthquake hits college football.<\/p>\n

We’re going to be covering this ad nauseum for the foreseeable future\u00a0from about a zillion angles (effect on search for a new JMU president, the\u00a0approximately 50 additional scholarships required\u00a0including the possibility of a new women’s sport\u00a0for Title IX compliance,\u00a0future rivals, etc.).\u00a0 But\u00a0I think it’s safe to say we’re strongly optimistic about the future and JMU’s place in it.<\/p>\n

Now let’s all try and remember we’ve got a top-ten showdown at William & Mary this Saturday night with wide tv coverage!<\/p>\n