NCAA Public Relations? Are You There? Would It Have Been So Hard To Waive James Madison From FBS Transition Clock For A Bowl?

The NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis actually does have a Public Relations department.

It must be a pretty low key, comfortable job. Because they don't really do anything. For one thing, they don't answer the phone. And it usually takes days for them to get back to you via email.

If someone from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, called this week, I doubt they could get through.

The James Madison Dukes football team is 10-0 on the season and leads the Sun Belt Conference at 6-0 in just their second year in the highest level Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). They have wins over Virginia and Utah State, two schools who have been playing upper level football for several decades. James Madison finished 8-3 and 6-2 last season in their first year in first class.

James Madison Dukes Are Ripping Up FBS

The Dukes dominated the second level Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) for years, winning the national championship in 2016 and finishing second in 2017 and '19. They also won it all in 2004.

So, they moved up, which is pretty American, particularly for a school named after our nation's fourth president and a forefather who helped write the Bill of Rights and is known as the "Father of the Constitution."

Wonder what he would write about the NCAA this week?

On Sunday, ESPN announced that James Madison would be hosting College GameDay on Saturday morning. The Dukes have done that before, but it is still a monumental moment for a smallish football program. A good public relations person at the NCAA who answers the phone here and there may have said:

"Wow, what a story! If we waive that two-year transition rule to 1.8 years, James Madison could be bowl eligible this season. And that's all they would talk about on GameDay."

But, NOOOOO.

The NCAA on Wednesday stuck to its decades-long long mall cop motif, and the overfficious jerks refused to waive the rule concerning schools transitioning from FCS to FBS. Well, FU! Maybe, that's what the esteemed John Adams would've written.

No Postseason For James Madison Due To FBS Transition Rules

"Requirements for members transitioning into FBS are based on factors beyond athletics performance," the NCAA Board of Directors administrative committee said in a statement. "They are intended to ensure schools are properly evaluating their long-term sustainability in the subdivision."

Uh, I think James Madison's "long-term sustainability" is sustaining pretty well - probably significantly better than the NCAA's.

James Madison pointed out its thriving scholarship funding programs in addition to its 17-3 mark in the big time recently in a letter to the NCAA in requesting a waiver. This is the school's second waiver attempt.

Now, it could still reach a bowl should there not be enough bowl-eligible teams for the 41 bowls out there. But that wouldn't even be right. This team deserves a second tier bowl - not a third for fourth.

And the fight goes on.

James Madison Dukes Still Fighting NCAA Postseason Ban

To a Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, the NCAA is the British all over again and he is the John Adams with an army of lawyers. He is threatening legal action if the bowl ban is not reversed soon.

Miyares said such a lawsuit would prove that the NCAA is putting an "unreasonable restraint on trade in the market" and cites the Virginia Antitrust Act. "The rule is anti-competitive, prohibiting more qualified teams from competing in bowl games to the advantage of incumbents in the market."

That's just not American.

The best teams should go to the bowls, even if they are better quicker than expected. That's punishing overachievers.

Again, what is the NCAA thinking?

The NCAA did bring up one good point. James Madison could have addressed altering the two-year transition period to one year or no years before it moved to FBS by going through the rule change process years ago, "as opposed to waiver requests"

Makes sense. It also makes sense to just let James Madison in right under the two-year deadline. The team is undefeated, other than one loss to the NCAA.