Hey NCAA, Let JMU Go Bowling!

File this under “Even A Blind Squirrel Finds A Nut Occasionally”:

Louise Lucas, one of the worst members of Virginia’s General Assembly and the ring leader of the obstructionist “brick wall” in the state senate that blocked chunks of Gov. Glenn Youngin’s popular agenda, is on the right side of an issue.

For once.

Let me remind the @NCAA that they are required by their charter to follow state laws where they operate. If they continue to hold @JMUFootball hostage to a technical rule and stop them from competing in the postseason they will face a very unfriendly future from our legislature.

— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) October 23, 2023

I’m not sure there’s much to her veiled threat of “unfriendliness” from Virginia’s General Assembly, but her heart’s in the right place on this one. Until she brings race into it. As she always does. Sigh.

She’s one of many Virginia politicians - Republicans and Democrats - who are lobbying the NCAA to allow James Madison University to become bowl eligible this year.

Let’s back up. In 2022 JMU moved up to Division 1 football after dominating the FCS for many years. This week the Dukes broke into both the AP and Coaches’ Polls national rankings in the 25th spot. The only Virginia college football program in the top 25.

No surprise, considering that after seven games, the university in Harrisonburg remains undefeated.

For most football programs, hitting six wins promises an invitation to play in one of the 41 bowl games. Seven wins? It’s a lock.

But NCAA rules prevent programs from participating in bowl games until they’ve been in the higher division for two seasons.

It seems arbitrary, but the NCAA has its reasons as explained by The Richmond Times-Dispatch in a recent story about Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ efforts to persuade the college athletics governing body to allow his alma mater to go bowling this year:

To discourage schools from recklessly chasing the potential windfalls of FBS status, the NCAA requires a two-year transition, during which the football program is bowl-ineligible. The NCAA Division I Council denied JMU’s petition to have its second transition season waived, and the Board of Directors affirmed that decision on appeal in April.

“I understand the two-year transition period is intended to ensure that programs are able to operate and compete at the highest level of intercollegiate football to which they are graduating,” Miyares wrote (in a letter to the NCAA). “However, it is obvious that JMU’s football program has demonstrated it is more than capable of operating and competing at the FBS level, and it has satisfied all other NCAA requirements of FBS eligibility.”

It’s tempting to say that rules are rules and JMU fans just need to be patient. After all, ODU and Appalachian State fans had to wait when their programs advanced to the next level.

But the NCAA has proven to be a loathsome organization, arbitrarily dogging some schools about minor recruiting violations while letting bigger schools with blatant violations slide. Add to that the Wild West atmosphere that’s invaded college football since the appearance of NIL money and the NCAA has become an organization that seems lost. Big bucks and the transfer portal have turned student athletes into free agents, chasing money over school loyalty and the NCAA just sucks its thumb.

Worse, the NCAA has failed to issue a blanket ban keeping ALL biological boys from competing in girls sports. That rule is desperately needed to protect women’s sports, but the squishy honchos of the NCAA continue to tiptoe around the issue.

The NCAA could waive the two-year bowl rule for JMU this year and it should. So far, beside its game against the Virginia Cavaliers in September, the Dukes haven’t  played schools that provide much of a challenge. Tossing them into a bowl game would give them a chance to show their stuff.

According to its website, JMU has 140,000 members of its alumni association. That’s impressive. A bowl game would give JMU’s football-hungry fans a chance to show the college football world that they’re willing to travel to see their team play.

Fan bases that travel well to bowl games also spend money and become highly sought after for postseason play.

Perhaps the vision of a fan base willing to blow lots of dough on a third-rate bowl game in some cold clime in late December 2023 will persuade the knuckleheads at NCAA headquarters to change their minds.

Let JMU go bowling.