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The NCAA has less power and leverage than ever in the NIL Era, but the governing body is still doing what it can to throw its weight around. That includes its steadfast refusal to make the football team at James Madison University eligible for a bowl game, and now, Virginia’s attorney general has taken up the torch for the Dukes.
If you’ve been following this saga, you probably know James Madison University made the leap to the FBS level after joining the Sun Belt Conference prior to the start of the 2022 college football season.
Under NCAA rules, the Dukes have to wait until the 2024 campaign to become eligible for a bowl game as well as the conference championship. They would’ve qualified after finishing with an 8-3 record last year (where they were briefly ranked at #25 before a three-game skid), and while JMU begrudgingly accepted that fate, that hasn’t been the case this year.
As things currently stand, the team is sitting at 10-0, ranked #18 in the country, and are 8.5-point favorites to win their showdown with App State when College GameDay heads down to Harrisonburg on Saturday.
JMU has repeatedly petitioned the NCAA to grant it a bowl eligibility waiver only to have those requests shot down, and last month, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the Virginia legislature threatened to make life as difficult as possible for the organization if it declined to change its tune.
Now, according to ESPN, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has decided to get in on the action with a sternly worded letter that was sent to the NCAA on Wednesday, which reads (in part):
“We are prepared to act on behalf of JMU in the unfortunate circumstance that JMU’s request for relief is not timely approved.
Specifically, JMU is prepared to promptly file a lawsuit in the Western District of Virginia asserting that the bowl ban violates the antitrust and, potentially, other laws.”
It’s worth noting JMU can still play in a bowl if there aren’t 82 teams with at least six wins when everything is said and done, although they’d need to get the green light to play in the Sun Belt championship game in order to have the chance to participate in a New Year’s Six showdown.
Miyares has given the NCAA until noon on Wednesday to respond, and it’ll be very interesting to see how things play out if the AG follows through on his threat.