Can James Madison Dukes become bowl eligible? Exploring 82-team CFB bowl scenario for Week 13
The James Madison Dukes have been among the best Group of Five teams in the nation this year in their second season of FBS play. They are, however, ineligible to play in bowl games. This is due to NCAA rules, which mandate that teams are ineligible for bowl games in their first two years after joining the FBS from the FCS.
If there are not enough teams that finish the season with a .500 or better record, the James Madison Dukes would gain bowl eligibility.
RedditCFB broke down the possibilities on X (formerly Twitter), stating:
"68 teams have clinched bowl bids, vying for 82 spots, and 81 teams should know for certain if they’re bowling this weekend. If SMU beats Navy, Navy will be at 5-6, and so the first team out will have to wait until Army-Navy to learn their fate. Army is also 5-6, but has 2 FCS wins, and so cannot get to the 6 countable wins they need for bowl eligibility even with a win against Navy.
"If there are not 82 eligible teams (expected), the pecking order for teams to get a bowl is: 1. JMU and Jax State 2. 5-win teams by APR Possible 5-7 teams ranked by APR: • 992: MIN, WF • 987: RICE • 985: MSST • 984: UCF • 983: SCAR • 982: MSU"
Check out the thread from RedditCFB here.
The James Madison Dukes are 10-1 this season after suffering their first loss of the season last weekend. Joe Lunardi of The Barking Crow stated that the Dukes will need between 10 and 12, depending on how the Army Black Knights and Navy Midshipmen are treated, of the following teams to lose this weekend to make a bowl:
- Eastern Michigan
- Mississippi State
- TCU
- Nebraska
- Central Michigan
- Utah State
- UCF
- Navy
- Northern Illinois
- Rice
- Syracuse
- Old Dominion
- Louisiana
- BYU
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Virginia Tech
- Marshall
- Washington State
- Florida
- South Carolina
- USF
- Cal
- Colorado State
James Madison Dukes no longer threatening legal action against NCAA
The James Madison Dukes appeared ready to file a lawsuit against the NCAA in order to receive bowl eligibility. Following last week's 26-23 overtime loss to the Appalachian State Mountaineers, the possibility of an undefeated season and subsequent New Year's Six games has greatly diminished, leading the school to back off the threat of a lawsuit.
The university released a statement which read:
"On Saturday evening, following the game, we consulted with Attorney General Miyares and his staff, as well as with our outside counsel, and the consensus was that filing emergency legal action against the NCAA was not a viable course of action at this point in time.
"The University's focus now is on getting the football team into a bowl game, and it appears that such a result is still a strong possibility. We could still file an action against the NCAA later if needed to receive a bowl invitation, but for the time being, there was a strong consensus that proceeding with legal action did not make sense." [h/t ESPN]