NCAA denies Virginia attorney general's request to make James Madison bowl eligible

In the past I've found myself unwittingly taking the role of not quite an NCAA defender, but an NCAA explainer. The blue disc logo might as well be a target: the NCAA exists to be the bad guy, to absorb all the unpopular aspects of the college sports industry so the schools don't have to. All the while, the NCAA simply enforces the rules that the schools themselves pass. The folks in Indianapolis hardly decide anything.

And then they go off and do something like this.

On Wednesday, NCAA president Charlie Baker informed Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares that he was denying his request to make James Madison bowl eligible for this season.

Baker noted that the Dukes, 6-0 and currently in first place in the Sun Belt East, can still reach a bowl game if not enough teams qualify for bowl games, but.... the 6-0 Dukes can only make a bowl game if not enough other teams qualify.

In his letter, Baker reminds Miyares that his organization is simply applying the rules that the schools themselves passed. 

"(T)he current two-year transition period was intended to provide adequate time for schools to demonstrate they have met the necessary requirements to become an FBS member and adjust to the increased requirements for student-athlete support in addition to FBS competition," Baker writes. "This timeline is intentional and membership-driven and applies to all schools that transition from (FCS) to (FBS)."

That phrase membership-driven is Baker reminding the Virginia AG that he's simply applying the rules that the schools passed.

But... what more does JMU have to do to prove that it belongs in college football's top division? The Dukes are 14-3 since moving up from FCS to FBS, and 9-2 in Sun Belt play. They would have played for the Sun Belt championship in their first year in the conference if the rules allowed -- in their finale against Sun Belt East co-champion Coastal Carolina, the Dukes won 47-7.

This year's team is essentially ranked 26th in the AP poll, and the only team in the Sun Belt still sporting a 3-0 conference record. They'll likely win at least 10 games this season, and perhaps as many as 12. 

But they'll have to hope and pray there aren't enough 6-6 teams in order for them to reach a bowl game? 

What is the harm in making an exception for them? Haven't they don't enough? Where's the harm? 

Later in the letter, Baker explains why he can't, or won't, make an exception for this Dukes team. 

The NCAA is making it harder for teams to transition from FCS to FBS, in an intentional effort to keep the top division's number from ballooning from its current 133 to 150 or more, and he doesn't want to create precedent of changing the rules for them. 

"The Division I Board of Directors and council believe clear standards and timelines for reclassification purposes will promote strategic membership growth and allow uniform experience for all reclassifying institutions," he writes.

But here's what gets me about this whole process: the FBS bowl season is deeply unserious down to its very core. 

Baker is protecting the integrity of an institution where one of the games is sponsored by a mayonnaise brand. Jimmy Kimmel sponsored a bowl game. Something called 68 Ventures has their own bowl game. Two months from now, a 6-6 MAC team will play a 7-5 Conference USA team before a crowd of hundreds on a  weeknight in a Miami suburb, all so something called RoofClaim.com can get their name out there and so ESPN can get a slightly larger audience than they would have drawn otherwise. 

And we can't let James Madison take part in that just yet... why? Out of the fear that other schools would move up and want their own exceptions? Make the reclassification fee higher if that's what you're worried about. Keep in mind: the NCAA doesn't even run the FBS postseason. It's essentially owned by ESPN and the conferences. The NCAA's only involvement in bowl season is approving new bowl games -- Are there 42 this season or 43? Neither of us know off the top of our heads -- and, it appears, keeping one of the best teams in all of Group of 5 out, despite all common sense.

I've defended lots of NCAA decisions, but I won't defend this.