Bright and early on Nov. 17 in Harrisonburg, Virginia, just over 26,000 students filled the Quad at James Madison University (JMU). The ESPN pregame college football show, “College Gameday,” had chosen JMU as their weekly location due to their 10-0 record and the attention surrounding the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) refusing to make them bowl eligible.
The NCAA considers a bowl game to be any postseason college football game. They range from smaller bowl games with less successful and well-known teams of the season to bigger bowl games with the top and more well-known teams of the season.
JMU was not eligible because in 2022 they announced they would be moving from the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) to the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). This was a major change because the CAA is a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) conference, while the SBC is a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conference.
FBS is the subdivision that includes the major Power Five conferences; when teams make the transition from FCS to FBS, they are not allowed to play in any bowl game or conference championship in the first two years of their time in the subdivision. Since JMU is in their second year in the SBC, they are still deemed ineligible for any bowl game.
JMU ended up getting a chance to play in the Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force Academy on Dec. 23, but only because there were not enough Bowl-eligible teams. In the Armed Forces Bowl, JMU ended up losing to Air Force 31-21.
Based on how JMU played throughout the season, they deserve a spot in a bowl game, should’ve had a chance to play in the Sun Belt Conference Championship and been in contention for one of the New Year’s Six bowl games. Finishing a season 11-1 is an impressive feat, no matter who their competition is, and the NCAA does not give them enough credit.
While JMU may seem to have the best winning percentage out of any Virginia school, the Liberty University Flames finished their regular season with a 13-0 record, winning their Conference USA championship. Liberty went through their undefeated season very quietly, not getting the attention that was given to JMU. Yes, they would be posted weekly with Washington, Georgia and Michigan in CBS’s undefeated team Instagram post, but outside of that, they had very little media attention.
Liberty’s lack of media attention is very unfair as only three to four teams finish the season undefeated every year. What makes it even worse is the other three undefeated teams—Michigan, Washington and Florida State—all got high media attention throughout the season. Yes, Liberty is not as big a school and played easier competition than the other undefeated teams, but no matter who a team plays, it should be a big deal that a team goes undefeated.
Liberty did finally get positive attention when they were picked to play in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl against Oregon, where they lost 45-6.
The Fiesta Bowl is one of the major New Year’s Six bowl games, and they got picked because the College Football Playoff committee saves a spot in one of these major bowl games for the best non-Power Five conference team. Liberty was an easy choice because of their undefeated record and conference championship.
It is unusual to see Virginia schools finding success in college football, and it is even more unusual that it is not the University of Virginia or Virginia Tech (although Virginia Tech still got their shine, playing in the Military Bowl vs. Tulane where they won 41-20). But, this year has added excitement to the college football bowl season for Virginians.
