(04-21-2014 12:21 PM)EKUSteve Wrote: [quote='statefanatic' pid='10688883' dateline='1398096382']
[quote='EKUSteve' pid='10688827' dateline='1398095527']
[quote='statefanatic' pid='10688389' dateline='1398088073']
Could EKU be that 12th member? I heard they have applied for membership to the Sun Belt.
Sun Belt Commish says JMU will remain in the CAA
By Harry Minium
The Virginian-Pilot
April 17, 2014
NORFOLK
James Madison apparently won't join Old Dominion in the Football Bowl Subdivision anytime soon.
The Harrisonburg school will remain in the Colonial Athletic Association and will not pursue membership in the Sun Belt Conference, the commissioner of that league, Karl Benson, told the Orlando Sentinel this week. The Sun Belt is the only FBS league that is considering expansion.
"It appears they made a decision to stay FCS," Benson said.
Athletic director Jeff Bourne, though, told the Harrisonburg News-Record on Wednesday afternoon that "no decision" on JMU's future has been made and that "dialogues" continue.
NCAA rules dictate that a Football Championship Subdivision school must join an FBS conference in order to move up, and JMU so far hasn't found one to its liking.
Last October, Carr Sports Consulting released a study for JMU that indicated the school was "well-positioned" for a move to FBS. ODU athletic director Wood Selig lobbied Conference USA officials on behalf of JMU, but the league has no interest in expansion, commissioner Britton Banowsky said.
JMU also had talks with the Mid-American Conference. But after the University of Massachusetts announced it would leave the MAC in 2015, reducing the league to 12 members, conference officials have said they have no desire to expand.
JMU president Jonathan Alger released a statement saying, in part, the school will be selective if it chooses to move up. "JMU will not pursue or accept an invitation from a conference that does not meet our criteria," Alger wrote on JMU's website.
That could open the door for Liberty University, which announced more than a year ago that it wants to join an FBS conference. Benson told CBSSports.com that Liberty has been "on our radar screen and will continue to be on our radar."
ODU is preparing for its first season in FBS and Conference USA this season. Selig said that if Liberty were to join the Sun Belt, the Monarchs and Flames likely would play a home-and-home series in football.
JMU was content with the CAA until two years ago, when three of its top rivals decided to leave - ODU to Conference USA, and Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason to the Atlantic 10.
According to media reports, JMU officials have privately expressed dissatisfaction with the CAA and its tepid reaction to conference realignment, which cost the league three of the Dukes' top rivals.
JMU officials were approached by the Sun Belt more than a year ago, according to media reports, but the Dukes weren't enamored with a league that put just two teams in bowls last season. The Sun Belt's TV contract also doesn't provide as much exposure or revenue as the C-USA TV contracts.
Bourne told the Harrisonburg newspaper that the Sun Belt never offered JMU membership.
Benson has said he wants the league to expand to 12 football schools by 2015, putting itself in position to hold a conference championship game. NCAA rules require that a decision on expansion must be made by June 1. Sun Belt presidents meet May 18-21 in Destin, Fla.
The conference also is considering Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State.
The Sun Belt has lost five members to C-USA expansion in the past year: Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee and North Texas all left in 2013 and Western Kentucky joins next fall.
Liberty boasts a large fan base, a $1 billion endowment, new and opulent football facilities and a TV network.
Benson told the Orlando newspaper, "Our goal is to get to 12 and get a championship game. But we want to be selective and we want to make sure we get the right university."
Harry Minium, 757-446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com
--------
At this point it could be Liberty, EKU or Jacksonville State.
I hope it is EKU! I am glad JMU is NOT in the mix and the door has closed on them.