Big Payday For JMU? Posted January 20, 2011 12:00 AM EST
By Mike Barber
HARRISONBURG - James Madison might not play football against North Carolina this September after all, and the Dukes could reap a cash windfall if that's the case.
JMU athletic director Jeff Bourne said Wednesday that UNC informed him in late December that it intended to bump the Dukes in favor of Louisville on Sept. 3, the date Madison is contracted to play the Tar Heels.
The two schools have been working - so far unsuccessfully - to find another date to play this year.
"We set our schedule up a certain way," Bourne said. "We did our job. We put the schedule together. Now it needs to be changed because we had an opponent change on us."
North Carolina wants to add Louisville because another Division I-A opponent, Tennessee, canceled its scheduled game with the Tar Heels.
If UNC cancels the JMU game, it might not be such a bad thing, financially, for Madison.
According to the contract between the two schools, dated June 22, 2005, UNC would have to pay JMU a $600,000 buyout if it decides not to play the game this year. If the game goes on as scheduled sometime this season, North Carolina would owe Madison only $350,000.
In addition, Bourne said
JMU would add a home game at Bridgeforth Stadium if UNC backs out, giving it an extra date to bring in revenue. Bourne said he's been in talks with a Division I-AA opponent to play at Bridgeforth on Sept. 3 just in case.
James Madison hopes to have the 2011 schedule finalized by the end of this week.
"I need it resolved," Bourne said. "We need to move forward with our planning, as do the other schools."
North Carolina associate athletic director Larry Gallo said Wednesday he is trying to avoid canceling the game.
"We have a contract to play James Madison on Sept. 3," Gallo said. "We are trying to work through some rescheduling possibilities with James Madison. We're very sensitive to their scheduling issues. It's a very difficult task. We're trying to work out something that would be agreeable to all parties."
Gallo said that when Tennessee backed out of a scheduled game against the Tar Heels, it created the need for another Division I-A opponent. Gallo said Tennessee first informed UNC last spring there might be an issue with their game. It became official, Gallo said, at the end of the summer.
That left the Tar Heels scrambling for an opponent, preferably one that would make the trip to Chapel Hill.
"We really wanted to find a [I-A] opponent that could play here," Gallo said. "We were able to find Louisville. We were very lucky there. There were other teams we could have played away."
Gallo said he doesn't want to leave JMU in the same bind.
"We don't want to do that to anybody else," Gallo said. "We really, really don't."
Not surprisingly, Gallo said UNC would like to avoid having to pay JMU the hefty buyout.
A year ago, North Carolina had to move its scheduled game against another Colonial Athletic Association team - William & Mary - after the Tar Heels were invited to play Louisiana State in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic.
"William & Mary seemed to be a bit of a smoother change," Gallo said. "We just played them later on in the season."
UNC plays Rutgers on Sept. 10 and East Carolina on Oct. 1. It would like to keep the Louisville game on Sept. 3 and move JMU back, perhaps to the Oct. 22 date when the Dukes have a bye.
JMU coach Mickey Matthews said recently he would not want to play a I-A game late in the season, an opinion Bourne reiterated Wednesday.
Bourne said the Dukes were scheduled to play at UNC on Sept. 3, then host Central Connecticut State on Sept. 10 and play at Liberty on Sept. 17. That schedule allowed JMU to play all three of its non-conference games before starting its daunting CAA slate, while keeping its Oct. 22 bye. That, Bourne said, is important from a competitive standpoint.
"That bye week gives us the chance to heal going into the last half of the season," Bourne said.
One thing Bourne said is not an option is filling UNC's spot with a Division II foe.
"We're not playing a Division II team," Bourne said. "Division II teams hurt you when it comes to playoff scenario time. Our real goal is to find a way to be postseason eligible."
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. What a crap FBS football league. JMU should just take their buyout money and try and schedule another FCS at home.