HARRISONBURG, Va. (WAVY) — Oh what a time to be a fan of the James Madison Dukes.
Not only is JMU football undefeated and ranked No. 18 in the country in just their second year in FBS, the Dukes’ men’s basketball team is ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time in school history at No. 24. This comes after two thrilling overtime wins to start the season, including a historic season opening upset of then No. 4 Michigan State, just the second time JMU men’s basketball has upset a ranked team.
JMU is also now just one of just six athletic programs in the country to have teams in both the AP top 25 in football and men’s basketball: JMU, Tennessee, Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina and Texas.
But that’s not all, ESPN’s College GameDay (featuring a performance by the Jonas Brothers) is also coming to Harrisonburg this weekend for a major football rivalry game against Appalachian State (which JMU came back from 28-3 down last year to beat). It’s the third time now that JMU’s hosted GameDay.
Oh yeah, there’s more. JMU’s men’s soccer program just earned an NCAA tournament at large bid on Monday, and will play Pittsburgh on Thursday in round 1. They join JMU women‘s soccer in earning an at large bid this fall after coming up short in their conference tournaments. The women lost a thriller to ODU in the Sun Belt title game.
Dukes fans can watch both of their top 25 squads in action this weekend at home, with men’s hoops playing a 7 p.m. game Friday before the Dukes face off with App on the gridiron at 2 p.m. Saturday.
