(05-03-2014 03:46 PM)bridgeforthduke Wrote:  While people are quick to point out that JMU's athletic budget is edged higher because Virginia requires schools to include more in the budget than other states do, no one has pointed that out about athletic fees. From what I understand, Virginia is one of the only states that bans universities from using tuition for athletic expenses. That's why you tend to see athletic fees at Virginia schools other than UVA and VT that are at such a high percentage of the athletic budget.

On the other hand, I was able to learn from this link that JMU's athletic donations are higher than many Sun Belt schools (Georgia State and App State are not in the link because they weren't FBS last year). I was particularly surprised that Arkansas State's donations are so pitiful.

Also, people should probably stop believing that the JMU BOV shut down JMU's attempt to join the Sun Belt. A random poster on here not connected to JMU said that and somehow it has stuck. As far as I'm aware no JMU poster or any reputable source such as a journalist has heard anything like that. The BOV tend to be yes men for this kind of thing and will just go along with whatever the President recommends. It has been known for over a year that JMU's administration didn't want the Sun Belt so them turning the Sun Belt down should not have come as a surprise.

What is your point? This list you are referencing is dominated by MAC Schools. Twelve of the bottom twenty are MAC schools. So does that mean that JMU is too good for the MAC?

Obviously, since athletic donations are not a problem at your school, I have to assume that you guys just didn't want to compete at the FBS level and are using your academic standards as an excuse to stay at the FCS level. It is easy to act like you are better, much more difficult to prove it.