Not a JMU fan but the softball team has had an awesome two days in the world series. Knocked off #1 and #5 on their home turf.

Longrifle28 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 8:33 pm

Not a JMU fan but the softball team has had an awesome two days in the world series. Knocked off #1 and #5 on their home turf.

I attended a soccer game tonight in Harrisonburg/Penn Laird and they were updating the crowd on the score of the JMU softball game. My Uncle was at the Harrisonburg BWW during the first round Oklahoma game and he said it was a pretty rowdy and awesome scene. Good support for the team in Harrisonburg, even outside of the university crowd. It helps having one of the players who I believe homered in both games be from Page County, which borders Rockingham (Harrisonburg being in Rockingham).

Not a fan of JMU but their overall athletic program is really impressive.

It can't be understated how impressive this is. Softball, although with a growing number of good programs, remains a chalk sport at the top. It's either SEC, southern Big 12 teams, Pac-12 or maybe certain ACC teams. Not many outsiders have a run like this.

Not to mentioned, they beat Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City on consecutive days. Both are top 5 nationally.

JMU only has 2 losses on the season, one coming in the postseason, so this run didn't come from nowhere.

Odicci Alexander is a rock star and the MVP of the WCWS so far.

With JMU having s legit shot a winning the title, Marshall winning the men's soccer title, Santa Clara winning the women's soccer title and Gonzaga being a powerhouse in men's basketball, mid majors are showing they can make a run and win, despite the resource differences.

JMU has too good for the SBC. So happy for them…

JM who?

I’ve always said it. JMU is a softball school.

I can't fault JMU for not joining the Sunbelt. I did take it as arrogance years ago, and it likely was but looking at it now it kind of made sense. They're not hurting. Nice looking football stadium, new basketball arena, very nice baseball and softball fields, very nice track complex, although there is no close parking. They get great turnout for football games. It really served no gain at this point. Once they do decide to move up, they'll have the facilities and campus in place to attract the talent needed to compete. Far from a fan of the school, but with the town of Harrisonburg's support and a lot of open land to expand, they're making some good moves.

/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:20 pm

I can't fault JMU for not joining the Sunbelt. I did take it as arrogance years ago, and it likely was but looking at it now it kind of made sense. They're not hurting. Nice looking football stadium, new basketball arena, very nice baseball and softball fields, very nice track complex, although there is no close parking. They get great turnout for football games. It really served no gain at this point. Once they do decide to move up, they'll have the facilities and campus in place to attract the talent needed to compete. Far from a fan of the school, but with the town of Harrisonburg's support and a lot of open land to expand, they're making some good moves.

And they have a train track that runs down the middle of campus. That's a plus in my book.

/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:20 pm

I can't fault JMU for not joining the Sunbelt. I did take it as arrogance years ago, and it likely was but looking at it now it kind of made sense. They're not hurting. Nice looking football stadium, new basketball arena, very nice baseball and softball fields, very nice track complex, although there is no close parking. They get great turnout for football games. It really served no gain at this point. Once they do decide to move up, they'll have the facilities and campus in place to attract the talent needed to compete. Far from a fan of the school, but with the town of Harrisonburg's support and a lot of open land to expand, they're making some good moves.

I can. Their conference, CAA, is loaded with nobodies. Schools that used to be in their rear view mirror (ODU, Liberty) have either passed them or soon will in program prestige.

Every year they sit FCS is another year programs that should be their peers (like us) continue to leave them behind.

The only reason ECU sits in the AAC right now while we don’t is because they made the decision to go 1A, departing the SoCon in 1976, while we stayed put in the new D1-AA. (I’m purposely simplifying this but you get the idea).

JMU has decided to follow the Kodak/Blockbuster model and stand firm while the world changes around them. Bold strategy. Evolve or die.

ah59396 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 11:11 pm

/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:20 pm

I can't fault JMU for not joining the Sunbelt. I did take it as arrogance years ago, and it likely was but looking at it now it kind of made sense. They're not hurting. Nice looking football stadium, new basketball arena, very nice baseball and softball fields, very nice track complex, although there is no close parking. They get great turnout for football games. It really served no gain at this point. Once they do decide to move up, they'll have the facilities and campus in place to attract the talent needed to compete. Far from a fan of the school, but with the town of Harrisonburg's support and a lot of open land to expand, they're making some good moves.

I can. Their conference, CAA, is loaded with nobodies. Schools that used to be in their rear view mirror (ODU, Liberty) have either passed them or soon will in program prestige.

Every year they sit FCS is another year programs that should be their peers (like us) continue to leave them behind.

The only reason ECU sits in the AAC right now while we don’t is because they made the decision to go 1A, departing the SoCon in 1976, while we stayed put in the new D1-AA. (I’m purposely simplifying this but you get the idea).

JMU has decided to follow the Kodak/Blockbuster model and stand firm while the world changes around them. Bold strategy. Evolve or die.

In what ways have ODU and Liberty passed JMU in prestige? Because they've moved to C-USA and Independent/A-Sun? Not hardly. JMU has done their own studies to see that a move is not lucrative for them at this time. Look at the conference members and consider all sports outside of football and you will see the travel costs are definitely less than if they joined Sun Belt. I assure you when they decide to move up, they will easily be able to recruit to the level of ODU/Liberty and beyond.

Again, I can't stand the school, never have, never will, and I grew up 15 minutes north in New Market....still currently living in the Shenandoah Valley and seeing the local support grow rapidly as well as the campus and facilities, they seem to be doing something right.

Hell of a performance so far and excited to see the matchup vs Alabama (if it happens). If there is anyone that can beat Montana Fouts right now, it’s JMU the way they are playing.

Edit: thought they played Bama today, but they play Oklahoma again. Hope to see them play Bama.

/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:32 am

ah59396 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 11:11 pm

/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:20 pm

I can't fault JMU for not joining the Sunbelt. I did take it as arrogance years ago, and it likely was but looking at it now it kind of made sense. They're not hurting. Nice looking football stadium, new basketball arena, very nice baseball and softball fields, very nice track complex, although there is no close parking. They get great turnout for football games. It really served no gain at this point. Once they do decide to move up, they'll have the facilities and campus in place to attract the talent needed to compete. Far from a fan of the school, but with the town of Harrisonburg's support and a lot of open land to expand, they're making some good moves.

I can. Their conference, CAA, is loaded with nobodies. Schools that used to be in their rear view mirror (ODU, Liberty) have either passed them or soon will in program prestige.

Every year they sit FCS is another year programs that should be their peers (like us) continue to leave them behind.

The only reason ECU sits in the AAC right now while we don’t is because they made the decision to go 1A, departing the SoCon in 1976, while we stayed put in the new D1-AA. (I’m purposely simplifying this but you get the idea).

JMU has decided to follow the Kodak/Blockbuster model and stand firm while the world changes around them. Bold strategy. Evolve or die.

In what ways have ODU and Liberty passed JMU in prestige? Because they've moved to C-USA and Independent/A-Sun? Not hardly. JMU has done their own studies to see that a move is not lucrative for them at this time. Look at the conference members and consider all sports outside of football and you will see the travel costs are definitely less than if they joined Sun Belt. I assure you when they decide to move up, they will easily be able to recruit to the level of ODU/Liberty and beyond.

Again, I can't stand the school, never have, never will, and I grew up 15 minutes north in New Market....still currently living in the Shenandoah Valley and seeing the local support grow rapidly as well as the campus and facilities, they seem to be doing something right.

Liberty finished the season ranked 17th in the nation with 10 wins and a bowl victory. They will be hosting BYU and Virginia Tech next year.

JMU was playing football in March because the FCS is a little league and will host Weber State and Norfolk State.

You tell me what’s more prestigious and which opponents will attract more talent to the respective programs.

And let me be very clear, I despise Liberty.

disparaging the FCS doesn't add anything to your argument - while we all understand football is important I thought this was more about the overall program - if JMU is happy with being a top 3 football program every year then that is fine with me - I don't care

From a strictly football perspective perhaps. And any comparison to Liberty is not fair. With the resources available to them, there are few G5 programs that are their peers. Beyond football JMU has an athletic program that produces national contenders in multiple sports. From an overall program standpoint the SBC likely has little appeal to them.

WVAPPeer wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:27 pm

disparaging the FCS doesn't add anything to your argument - while we all understand football is important I thought this was more about the overall program - if JMU is happy with being a top 3 football program every year then that is fine with me - I don't care

I liked FCS while we were in it, but there’s no denying it’s the little league. The Ball State vs San Jose State Arizona Bowl had better ratings than the FCS National Championship.

But I digress. I am cheering for them in the Softball World Series.

hapapp wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:32 pm

From a strictly football perspective perhaps. And any comparison to Liberty is not fair. With the resources available to them, there are few G5 programs that are their peers. Beyond football JMU has an athletic program that produces national contenders in multiple sports. From an overall program standpoint the SBC likely has little appeal to them.

Add in JMU's academics and the geographic region from which they draw the majority of their students and it's easy to understand their lack of interest in SBC membership.
The Dukes aren't on a *Davidson level* but they'd have little in common with 75% of the SBC membership. It had to have been a bitter disappointment to the App admin that JMU didn't follow us to the SBC. In fact, we have very little in common with 75% of the SBC membership.

ah59396 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 06, 2021 11:44 am

/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:32 am

ah59396 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 11:11 pm

/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:20 pm

I can't fault JMU for not joining the Sunbelt. I did take it as arrogance years ago, and it likely was but looking at it now it kind of made sense. They're not hurting. Nice looking football stadium, new basketball arena, very nice baseball and softball fields, very nice track complex, although there is no close parking. They get great turnout for football games. It really served no gain at this point. Once they do decide to move up, they'll have the facilities and campus in place to attract the talent needed to compete. Far from a fan of the school, but with the town of Harrisonburg's support and a lot of open land to expand, they're making some good moves.

I can. Their conference, CAA, is loaded with nobodies. Schools that used to be in their rear view mirror (ODU, Liberty) have either passed them or soon will in program prestige.

Every year they sit FCS is another year programs that should be their peers (like us) continue to leave them behind.

The only reason ECU sits in the AAC right now while we don’t is because they made the decision to go 1A, departing the SoCon in 1976, while we stayed put in the new D1-AA. (I’m purposely simplifying this but you get the idea).

JMU has decided to follow the Kodak/Blockbuster model and stand firm while the world changes around them. Bold strategy. Evolve or die.

In what ways have ODU and Liberty passed JMU in prestige? Because they've moved to C-USA and Independent/A-Sun? Not hardly. JMU has done their own studies to see that a move is not lucrative for them at this time. Look at the conference members and consider all sports outside of football and you will see the travel costs are definitely less than if they joined Sun Belt. I assure you when they decide to move up, they will easily be able to recruit to the level of ODU/Liberty and beyond.

Again, I can't stand the school, never have, never will, and I grew up 15 minutes north in New Market....still currently living in the Shenandoah Valley and seeing the local support grow rapidly as well as the campus and facilities, they seem to be doing something right.

Liberty finished the season ranked 17th in the nation with 10 wins and a bowl victory. They will be hosting BYU and Virginia Tech next year.

JMU was playing football in March because the FCS is a little league and will host Weber State and Norfolk State.

You tell me what’s more prestigious and which opponents will attract more talent to the respective programs.

And let me be very clear, I despise Liberty.

JMU decided to look at it beyond the perspective of football. I don't think JMU has had to cut any programs, and are set to even come out much better than some post-Covid. Hell, ODU cut wrestling, and was told by an independent auditor that they might need to consider a new conference just to stay afloat. Didn't ECU also cut some sports and looking at a deficit? We are all aware of some of the App State difficulties. Those schools had issues even before Covid. The cost for JMU to travel to most of the Sun Belt conference would be much greater than current expenses. The support and facilities are already there for a move. I imagine there will be serious talks of a more regionally aligned conference in the upcoming years. At that point, I'm sure they'll move up.

What a weird thread…

Saint3333 wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 06, 2021 5:07 pm

What a weird thread…

Outside of some U20 USA track championships in a few days which would not include all of App T&F and Olympic Trials in a few weeks which would include even fewer App T&F athletes we are 100% in the off-season so time for a thread like this or BBQ.