Does James Madison University Have The Country’s Best Athletic Department?

James Madison University is a relatively small public research university located in the little-known town of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

It has just over 20,000 undergraduate students as of 2022 and only began playing NCAA Division I FBS football a year ago.

And yet, despite all of that, the Dukes may well have the top athletic department in all of college sports.

Don’t believe me?

Let’s just take a took at the results.

James Madison and head coach Curt Cignetti went 8-3 in their first FBS college football season. The Dukes finished in a tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division. But due to NCAA and conference rules, they were not postseason eligible.

This season, the Dukes are off to a 9-0 start. They’re ranked No. 21 in the AP Poll. But, yet again, due to NCAA rules they cannot compete in the postseason and cannot be ranked in the College Football Playoff rankings.

But that may not be the case much longer.

James Madison is petitioning the NCAA for full bowl eligibility in 2023. And if they get it, the Dukes could very well find themselves in the a New Year’s Six Bowl.

Lest you think it’s just the football program, however, let’s dig a bit deeper.

Just one week ago, the Dukes’ men’s soccer program knocked off top-ranked UCF.

While the women’s soccer program earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament.

The success rolled over to the winter sports season as well. James Madison’s men’s basketball program began it’s season on the road at perennial powerhouse Michigan State.

But the Dukes were unfazed. They walked into the legendary Breslin Center and walked out with a 79-76 overtime victory over the fourth-ranked Spartans.

Is JMU currently the best college athletic department in the country? That’s not for us to decide. But the evidence is certainly in the Dukes’ favor.