James Madison University Takes Maryland to OT

James Madison took Maryland to OT and lost by a field goal. First, as an alum of JMU, the results of this game bring up a swirl of emotions: it's thrilling that they were in this game to the wire but devastating that they lost. The fact that the Dukes played a competitive game against a school in a BCS conference that's been to three straight Bowl games says a lot about how far the Dukes have come and how far they can still go as a program. I still remember my freshman year at JMU when the Dukettes were the highlight of going to Bridgeforth Stadium, but, when they won the 2004 National Title, that perception changed and JMU became a lightweight football school.

On a grander scale, this game raises some important questions about the state of college football:

1) How much parity is there in college football if a BCS conference, like the ACC, can have two of its teams lose to CAA schools and another one taken to OT at home? The CAA isn't even a Division I conference. It's also worth mentioning that another CAA team only lost by four at Kansas St., a Big 12 school, last week.

2) How can the NCAA legitimately tell the Mountain West and the WAC that they are not worthy of being BCS conferences and that the ACC is worthy? The Mountain West is clearly better than the ACC, and it might also trump the Big 10. BYU, Colorado St., Utah, and TCU are all poised to have fantastic seasons, and that list does not include Boise St., who is a member of the WAC. There aren't that many good teams combined in the ACC and the Big 10, and it's unclear if the best teams in those conferences would go through a season in the Mountain West or the WAC and wind up as the conference champ.

3) Will schools from the CAA join Division I as a group, individually, or remain in college football's Cul De Sac Division?

4) When do the Davids of college football decide to stick it to the NCAA and its Goliaths? The system deprives these schools at a chance for a big payday come bowl season as well as a shot to compete for national titles they clearly deserve a chance at winning. In fact, the Davids are making their case so well that Goliath may soon avoid anyone with a slingshot and just quit scheduling these teams altogether.