Democratic Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas warned the NCAA that it will have a hard time dealing with the Virginia legislature in the future if it does not permit James Madison University to play a bowl game at the end of this season.
The James Madison Dukes are in the second of their mandatory two-year postseason suspension because they moved from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision. The suspension is standard practice for the NCAA when a team moves to the higher subdivision, but the university had asked for a waiver to participate in 2023 postseason action. The waiver was denied in April.
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"Let me remind the [NCAA] that they are required by their charter to follow state laws where they operate. If they continue to hold [James Madison football] hostage to a technical rule and stop them from competing in the postseason they will face a very unfriendly future from our legislature," Lucas said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
@CharlieBakerMA Since you are new ask around about the legislative help Virginia has had to give your organization over the years. I've been in the Senate for 32 years and can think of a number of issues you all have needed help on. Virginia will go to war on this.
— L. Louise Lucas (@SenLouiseLucas) October 23, 2023
She then followed up her initial post by directly mentioning NCAA President Charlie Baker and warning that the Old Dominion "will go to war on this."
"Since you are new ask around about the legislative help Virginia has had to give your organization over the years," Lucas wrote in another post. "I've been in the Senate for 32 years and can think of a number of issues you all have needed help on. Virginia will go to war on this."
Lucas was not the only Virginia official calling on the NCAA to allow James Madison to be eligible for postseason play this year. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares called it "tone deaf" for the NCAA to ban the Dukes from postseason play shortly after the team was ranked 25th in the country in the Associated Press NCAA football poll on Sunday.
It’s tone deaf that the @NCAA is going to deny postseason opportunities to student-athletes on a team that is ranked in both the @AP_Top25 and Coaches Top 25 poll. #GoDukes
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) October 22, 2023
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"It’s tone deaf that the [NCAA] is going to deny postseason opportunities to student-athletes on a team that is ranked in both the [Associated Press top 25 poll] and Coaches Top 25 poll. #GoDukes," Miyares posted.
The Dukes have a 7-0 record in the 2023 football season, with their most recent victory being a 20-7 win over Marshall. James Madison leads the Sun Belt Conference but is not allowed to play in the conference's championship game or any bowl game due to the suspension by the NCAA.