{"id":8504,"date":"2016-04-27T07:15:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T11:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8504"},"modified":"2016-04-27T08:43:49","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T12:43:49","slug":"pumping-the-breaks-on-jmu-to-maction-speculation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=8504","title":{"rendered":"Pumping the Breaks On JMU to MACtion Speculation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"emuNews 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\u00a0is a moral imperative\u00a0\u2013\u00a0it will save students money and lower student debt.”<\/a> Of course long before the report was published,\u00a0students, 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n