The Virginia AG has said that the state will go to court over the NCAA’s decision to deny the James Madison sports waiver.
The letter, which ESPN got on Thursday, said, “We are ready to act on behalf of JMU in the unfortunate event that JMU’s request over relief is not timely approved.”
“Specifically, JMU plans to promptly launch a lawsuit in the western region of Virginia asserting which the bowl prohibition violates antitrust along with potentially, other laws.”
The NCAA made a choice on Wednesday that made it impossible for JMU to play in a New Year’s Six bowl game. This is because the Dukes are not a conference champion and would not qualify.
JMU could play within a less well-known bowl, though, because it could fill in if there aren’t enough teams that are eligible.
Bill Hancock, executive head of the College Football Playoff, said Wednesday night, “The facts haven’t changed about JMU.”
“The committee considers every team who are eligible to play during the postseason, and which is where things stand.”
Miyares’ office said on Wednesday that the office of the state general’s attorney was upset with the decision and was looking into court options.
When asked about the NCAA’s ruling on Thursday, Miyares told ESPN that it was “extremely disappointing.”
“[The NCAA] shows that they, yet again, dismiss the best desires of our nation’s athletes,” Miyares stated. Wednesday, similar waivers for Jacksonville State as well as Tarleton State were turned down.
“The NCAA has made an arbitrary and arbitrary decision that has an anti-competitive or profoundly negative impact in student-athletes, JMU, the Commonwealth for Virginia, and college football as a whole.”
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares hired a law company to send a demand letter through the NCAA on Wednesday.
The letter threatened legal action if the NCAA did not give James Madison football a full bowl eligibility waiver.
Later Wednesday, the second time the permission request was turned down, it was turned down. JMU is 10-0 and named No. 18 in the AP Top 25.
However, it can’t be in the College Football Playoff rankings because it is a second-year FCS-to-FBS transitioning team, which has been the rule for more than 20 years.
“This injustice transcends athletics and cannot be allowed to stand,” said Miyares. “The NCAA has been warned many times, but they still won’t do what’s right.”
So, if the university gives me permission, I’m ready to go to court to reveal the NCAA’s illegal behavior and get justice to James Madison University.
It says in the letter to the NCAA that a case would show a “unreasonable restraint of trade to the market” and uses the Sherman Act and the Virginia Antitrust Act as examples.
They say that keeping teams out of the playoffs while the NCAA changes is “unnecessary” via “both a practical as well as legal perspective.”
The rule hurts competition by not letting better teams play in bowl games, which helps existing companies on the market without a good reason, the letter says.
It doesn’t matter if the rule is looked at with a “quick look” or a full rule of reason analysis; the result is going to be the same.
A three-page letter from the law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth LLC makes the case for James Madison to be considered for a bowl based on its 10-0 record, No. 18 national ranking, and a two-year procedure for reclassifying from the NCAA Football Championship Division to the Bowl Subdivision, which is the highest level of the game.
“We hope and expect to see the NCAA as a whole and the different committees will do the proper thing and let JMU play in any bowl game that its performance warrants,” the letter reads.
“JMU is ready to promptly file a lawsuit within the Western District of Virginia asserting which the bowl ban violates antitrust in addition to potentially, other laws,” if that doesn’t happen.