NCAA ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 05: A detail of giant NCAA logo is seen outside of the stadium on the practice day prior to the NCAA Men’s Final Four at the Georgia Dome on April 5, 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
ArticlesCollege FootballNCAABy Chris Novak on

The NCAA made their decision on JMU football’s postseason hopes on Wednesday. You might be surprised to learn that it’s not gone over well.

Pete Thamel of ESPN reported that the NCAA denied the postseason waiver requests that JMU, Jacksonville State, and Tarleton State all pushed for. The denial means that the programs won’t be able to participate in the 2023-24 bowl season.

This is particularly discouraging for JMU, who is unbeaten this season. They’ve got so much attention that even ‘College GameDay’ will air from the JMU campus this week.

Pressure had been applied online as JMU made their way through the season without a blemish. After recently moving up to FBS, they will conclude their 2023 season this weekend against the UConn Huskies. But there won’t be any prize for them to play for now that they’ve been ruled ineligible for the postseason.

JMU recently filed to appeal their transition restriction from FCS to FBS to go down from two years to one. JMU argued that because of their “unprecedented level of success” during the period of time should have allowed them to have an exception made for them.

The NCAA, of course, disagreed with that reasoning and ruled against their eligibility. They still could play in a bowl game if not enough teams are allowed in, but that kind of misses the point.

Naturally, there were plenty out there who blasted the NCAA for this decision.

[Pete Thamel]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022

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