First the obvious: The MWC announced this week that it is content to join 12 soccer teams and not think about expanding anytime soon. However, this may change depending on the ongoing reorientation of the conference.
Second, it should be obvious: among the many challenges the bison faces as it ascends, Fargo remains a long way from anywhere, a geographic island in the FBS world of college sports that probably made NDSU less attractive to the mountain west power . Geography won’t change.
This means NDSU is unlikely to hear any encouraging news about the FCS exit for the foreseeable future. Hoping to join FBS remains a moon shot like I thought it would in December.
The same cannot be said of one of the bison’s main rivals at the helm of the FCS.
James Madison, who defeated the NDSU on his way to a national championship in 2016 and lost twice to the bison on later trips to Frisco, Texas, is about to receive a coveted invitation to an FBS league.
The Athletic reported first, and other national outlets confirmed that the JMU is being considered by both the Sun Belt Conference and Conference USA.
While these options might not have seemed too appealing to the Harrisonburg, Virginia school a year or two ago – it had its sights set on the then more highly regarded American Athletic Conference – the massive changes that have rocked college football in recent years four months ago, the JMU has probably considered a jump if it receives an invitation from the Sun Belt or C-USA.
We don’t need to go into details why C-USA might not be attractive or why the Sun Belt might be a better option now that it was a year ago. There are a million moving parts in the reorientation of the conference this week alone. All we can say is that it is time for JMU to move up and move up.
No announcements are forthcoming, although JMU fans believe that sporting director Jeff Bourne will reveal a bomb at a basketball press conference today. He will not. Greg Madia, who reports on the Dukes for the Harrisonburg newspaper, wrote on Twitter that, according to sources, he had spoken to the JMU, “is still determining whether it can switch financially to the FBS work”.
James Madison has a huge athletic budget compared to other mid-majors, so Madia followed up with a tweet saying, “While the JMU budget fits into several FBS options, private fundraising needs to be improved to accommodate the spending increases from FBS (travel, coaching salaries, scholarships) to support). TV money in G5 leagues does not cover the difference. “
But it seems that if James Madison is to make the climb, which he indicated in the right situation, we have reached the point where it has to make a decision.
The decision should be to go.
It’s easy to say we’re sitting 1,400 miles west and have no dog in battle. It’s not my money and it’s not my future.
But when the time is right for the NDSU’s soccer program, and it is, the time is right for the JMU to do the same.
The JMU and its administration have similar frustrations with FCS as some at NDSU. James Madison was, ahem, dissatisfied with his conference (the Colonial Athletic Association) how it handled the fall 2020 season postponed by COVID and the subsequent spring 2021 season. The Dukes believe that many schools in the CAA don’t have the right commitment to football. JMU sees the future (and frankly the present) of FCS being controlled by the middle and lower level programs to the detriment of the top level.
The fact that FCS conference commissioners are even talking about expanding an already too large playoff field from 24 teams to 32 teams is an indication of where the division is going. Instead of picking two or three sketchy playoff teams filling a 24-team bracket, let’s have 10 sketchy teams and eliminate the bye week for seeded teams. Pure stupidity.
We should find out soon whether the JMU can make the leap. If it does, NDSU and those who support moving to FBS, when the opportunity presents itself, might just look east with envy.
The Dukes would seamlessly move on to FBS, leaving an FCS weakened by their departure.
Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Coastal Carolina, and now maybe James Madison. All of them disappeared from FCS in less than a decade.
Is there any way I can bring Fargo up and closer to Mountain West?
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