JMU plans move to the American Conference

 James Madison University has been accepted for admission into the American Conference following a university application and a unanimous vote of the American CEOs. JMU will join as a full league member no later than July 1, 2028.

Following a formal written application from James Madison University, the American conducted a deliberate and comprehensive due diligence process to evaluate the institution, its alignment with the American and the long-term value of the relationship. The evaluation considered six primary areas: institutional and academic alignment; competitive strength and trajectory; institutional investment; financial sustainability and member value; brand, media value, fan engagement, and geography and operational fit. The conference used multiple sources of analysis, including a quantitative media-value study examining market characteristics, audience performance, fan engagement, competitive performance and other value drivers.

“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 ’01, 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.”

“We are honored that our request for membership in the American Conference has been accepted. I am grateful to Commissioner Tim Pernetti and the conferences’ presidents and chancellors for their confidence in James Madison University,” stated JMU President James Schmidt. “The American is home to member institutions who share our ambitious academic goals and our unwavering commitment to student success. Our student-athletes will compete in cities where JMU alumni are already rooted and future Dukes will fill the stands. With this move, we carry deep appreciation for the Sun Belt Conference and its member institutions. Their partnership helped position JMU for this moment, and we are proud of everything we built together.”

The American Conference “full” membership includes 13 institutions: Alabama-Birmingham, Charlotte, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Memphis, North Texas, Rice, South Florida, Temple, Texas-San Antonio, Tulane, Tulsa and Wichita State. In football, the conference also includes Army and Navy, while Wichita State does not sponsor football.

JMU has been an affiliate member of the American in lacrosse since 2022. The Dukes have won the last two American lacrosse titles and qualified for the NCAA Championship in all four seasons as a member. Swimming and diving also joined the American as an affiliate member beginning in 2025-2026.

“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.”

James Madison enters the American with a highly successful athletics portfolio. The Dukes cemented a rise to national prominence in football with participation in the College Football Playoff in 2025. As members of the Sun Belt since 2022, JMU earned championships in football, both men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball, women’s soccer and swimming and diving, to go along with two American titles as an affiliate member. Additionally, the Dukes earned NCAA at-large bids in both women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, baseball and lacrosse in the same span of the last four years.

In addition to three FBS postseason appearances, the Dukes won national championships in football in 2004 and 2016 at the FCS level and advanced to at least the semifinals in four out of five seasons before jumping to FBS in 2022. JMU also captured national titles in lacrosse in 2018 and field hockey in 1994 and advanced to both the Men’s College World Series (1983) and Women’s College World Series (2021). Men’s basketball has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship four times, including most recently in 2024. Women’s basketball has reached postseason play in 18 of the last 19 possible seasons with eight NCAA appearances. Both men’s and women’s soccer and lacrosse each have multiple instances of advancing to national quarterfinals or better.

The Dukes sponsor 18 varsity sports. With the move to the American, 17 will fall under one conference, with field hockey remaining in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). JMU previously had affiliate membership agreements with the American for swimming and diving and lacrosse. Men’s sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer and tennis. Women’s sports include basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, indoor track & field, lacrosse, outdoor track & field, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis and volleyball.

JMU spent the bulk of its Division I history in the Colonial (now Coastal) Athletic Association from 1985 to 2022, when it officially joined the Sun Belt Conference and transitioned from FCS to FBS. After two years of reclassification, the Dukes became full FBS members in 2024.