James Madison Crashes the CFP Party: How the Sun Belt Champs Earned a Shot at the National Title
College football hasn’t always been kind to underdogs. For decades, the sport’s championship picture was dominated by bluebloods and bottlenecked by a postseason system that left little room for surprises.
But 2025 is different. With the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff format finally in place, the door cracked open-and James Madison kicked it off the hinges.
The Dukes, champions of the Sun Belt Conference, are the lowest-ranked team in the final CFP poll at No. 24.
And yet, they’re in. Not just in the conversation, but in the actual playoff.
Their reward? A first-round date with Oregon, the Pac-12 powerhouse.
But how exactly did a Group of Five program with just one Power Four opponent on its schedule end up in the national title hunt? Let’s break it down.
The Path to the Playoff: A Format Built for Chaos
The new 12-team playoff format isn’t just about expanding access-it’s about redefining who gets a seat at the table. The structure includes the five highest-ranked conference champions and seven at-large bids. That’s crucial: it’s not about which conferences you come from, but how you stack up against the rest.
In the past, the assumption was simple: the four Power Four conference champs would lock down four of those five automatic spots, with the final bid going to the top-ranked Group of Five champion. This year flipped that script.
The ACC champion, Duke, was left out. James Madison was in.
Here’s why: Duke stumbled into the ACC title game via a messy tiebreaker and finished the season with five losses-including non-conference defeats to UConn and Tulane. The selection committee looked at that résumé and said, “Not good enough.”
James Madison, meanwhile, had just one loss and a conference title. That was enough to leapfrog Duke and punch their ticket to the playoff.
And it wasn’t just JMU making noise. Tulane, another Group of Five champ out of the American Conference, also cracked the field.
The ACC still got a team in-but not without controversy. Miami jumped Notre Dame in the final rankings to claim the No. 10 seed, a move that raised more than a few eyebrows.
The Dukes’ Résumé: 12 Wins, One Slip-Up, and Plenty of Statement Games
James Madison finished the regular season 12-1, their only loss coming in early September against Louisville. That game was telling.
The Dukes actually led at halftime before the Cardinals pulled away in the second half to win 28-14. It was JMU’s lone matchup against a Power Four opponent-and while it ended in defeat, it showed the Dukes could hang with bigger programs.
From there, James Madison rolled. Let’s take a closer look at three games that defined their season:
Oct. 18 - James Madison 63, Old Dominion 27
This was a statement win if there ever was one. After a shaky start-including a fumbled kickoff return that helped ODU jump out to a 20-14 lead-the Dukes flipped the switch.
They outscored the Monarchs 49-7 the rest of the way and racked up over 300 yards both on the ground and through the air. It wasn’t just a win-it was a dismantling of a team that finished 9-3 and beat Virginia Tech earlier in the year.
That kind of dominance put the rest of the Sun Belt-and the CFP committee-on notice.
Nov. 22 - James Madison 24, Washington State 20
This one was a nail-biter. The Cougars led into the fourth quarter, and for a moment, it looked like James Madison’s playoff hopes might slip away.
Enter Wayne Knight. The running back broke loose for a 58-yard touchdown that gave the Dukes the lead late.
The defense sealed it with a clutch fourth-down stop on Washington State’s next possession. The game also featured two coaches now headed to Power Four gigs-JMU’s Bob Chesney to UCLA and Wazzu’s Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State.
It was a high-stakes game with high-level execution.
Dec. 5 - James Madison 31, Troy 14 (Sun Belt Championship)
Troy came into the title game tied with Old Dominion for the second-best record in the Sun Belt and had given Clemson a scare earlier in the year. But against James Madison, the Trojans barely held a lead-just 14 seconds, to be exact.
The Dukes took control early, led by three at the half, and then shut Troy out in the second half. It was a business-like performance in a must-win game, and it sealed their place in the playoff.
The Bigger Picture: James Madison’s Place in the 2025 CFP
When the final College Football Playoff rankings dropped, James Madison was slotted at No. 24-the lowest-ranked team in the field, but a team that earned its spot the hard way. Here’s how the top of the bracket looks:
- Indiana (13-0)
- Ohio State (12-1)
- Georgia (12-1)
- Texas Tech (12-1)
- Oregon (11-1) - JMU’s first-round opponent
...
10.
Miami (10-2)
11.
Tulane (11-2)
12.
James Madison (12-1)
The Dukes are staring down a juggernaut in Oregon, but they’ve already proven they belong. They took care of business in a deep Sun Belt, handled adversity on the road, and delivered when it mattered most.
This isn’t a team that backed into the playoff. They kicked the door down.
The Sun Belt’s Rise - and What It Means
James Madison’s success isn’t happening in a vacuum. The Sun Belt has quietly become one of the most competitive Group of Five leagues in the country. Here’s how the standings shook out:
East Division
1.
James Madison (8-0 conf., 12-1 overall)
2.
Old Dominion (6-2, 9-3)
3.
Coastal Carolina (5-3, 6-6)
West Division
1.
Troy (6-2, 8-5)
2.
Southern Miss (5-3, 7-5)
3.
Louisiana (5-3, 6-6)
This isn’t a one-team league. Old Dominion, Troy, and Southern Miss all posted strong seasons. And with JMU now crashing the national stage, the Sun Belt’s reputation is only growing.
Final Thoughts: A Cinderella With Bite
James Madison might not have the pedigree of a Georgia or an Ohio State, but they’re not just here for the photo op. They’ve got a defense that can fly, an offense that can explode, and a chip on their shoulder the size of Harrisonburg.
The expanded playoff was designed to give programs like this a shot. Now, the Dukes have theirs. And if they can keep writing this story, they might just turn college football’s newest format into its greatest underdog tale yet.