James Madison University has been accepted into the American Conference and will begin full membership there no later than July 1, 2028, it was announced Monday.
“The Board of Visitors voted unanimously to authorize the university to apply for and accept an invitation for membership in the American Conference, and we did so with tremendous confidence and excitement for this university’s future. The American Conference is the right home for James Madison University, academically, competitively, and geographically. This conference is where our academic peers compete, they have a shared vision for the future, it’s where our alumni live and work, and where our student-athletes will thrive,” said Dave Rexrode, Rector of the James Madison University Board of Visitors. “The Madison Promise commits us to excellence and ambition, and this conference change reflects both. We are grateful for the Sun Belt Conference, its member institutions, and the championships and relationships we built together over the past few years. And as Rector of this board and as a proud JMU alumnus, I have never been more excited about the future of this university.”
The Dukes will become the 14th full member and 16th football-playing member of the American. The current full members include Alabama-Birmingham, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, North Texas, Rice, South Florida, Temple, Texas-San Antonio, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State. Army and Navy are also part of the football alignment. JMU joined the Sun Belt and FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) in 2022.
“We’re ecstatic for James Madison to take the next step in our university’s growth by joining the American Conference,” Director of Athletics Matt Roan said. “We work every day to best position our athletics program for excellence, and today’s announcement is the next step in our strategic elevation. The American offers opportunities for all our sports to thrive, to grow our brand and media exposure, to expand our constituent base, and to continue to elevate the impact of James Madison on college athletics. We are grateful to the CEOs and Commissioner Tim Pernetti for this invitation to join the American, and we are bullish about our future path as conference members. I also want to thank the Sun Belt Conference and fellow athletics directors for their collaboration through competition over the last few years.”
Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill issued a statement after the announcement.
“In an era of collegiate athletics marked by nationwide conference expansion, the Sun Belt has distinguished itself in its commitment to a geographic footprint and a divisional model that fosters regional rivalries, engages passionate fanbases and supports its member institutions’ pursuit of excellence in all sports at a reasonable cost. It just makes sense,” Gill said. “With James Madison’s recent announcement of its planned departure, the conference leadership will examine and evaluate all opportunities as it continues its work to ensure the sustained rise of the Sun Belt Conference—the premier FBS non-autonomy conference in the country. The Sun Belt Conference is RISING, and our best days are ahead.”
The final date for the Dukes terminating their Sun Belt membership and joining the American will be announced later.
16 teams? The WAC tried that and it failed terribly,the slice of the pie is getting smaller and smaller…….I think they’ll have to cut a couple of schools (Charlotte and Tulsa) to have a chance of this league making it.
15 for football, 14 for all other sports with the JMU add
16 Teams for football would be good for American & I would not mind Miami(OH) to join American along with James Madison.
15…….they should drop Charlotte as you know the SBC will grab them and allow both leagues can keep their status. Charlotte is very non-competitive and would do better the in Sun Belt.
The American should be focusing on evening up for basketball by adding College of Charleston.
People in the comments mad about a bloated, odd-numbered American as if an 18-member Big Ten is sustainable.
You need a Snickers, Dan?
Continuing the pattern of the Sun Belt pulling up from C-USA… I would expect the University of Delaware to be the best “get” going forward. It’s a Carnegie R-1, land grant, flagship state university… and even though Liberty has had some success on the field, nobody wants that future potential headache with a private religious college. Delaware would maintain the all-public nature of the SBC, and has history with Georgia State and ODU from the old CAA football days.