Play the Damn Games

James Madison announced Thursday it will play at Virginia in 2028. The Dukes already beat the Cavaliers 36-35 in Charlottesville in 2023 — trailing by 11 in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 unanswered, punching in the game-winner with 55 seconds left. A year later, they went to Kenan Stadium and beat North Carolina 70-50, setting records for most points against an FBS opponent, most points in a half and the most points any opponent has ever scored in UNC’s building.

“This game is good for both programs, both of our respective fan bases, and the Commonwealth at large,” JMU Director of Athletics Matt Roan said.

He’s right. And he shouldn’t have to explain why.

In-state games between Group of 6 and Power 4 programs are the best thing college football keeps refusing to schedule. The evidence is overwhelming. The excuses are tired. And the fans who would pack these stadiums — on both sides — deserve better.

The Receipts

Start with Virginia, where three Group of 6 programs have been making the state’s Power 4 schools look sideways for the better part of a decade.

JMU beat Virginia Tech 21-16 in Blacksburg in 2010 — as an FCS program. It remains one of the most famous upsets in college football history. The Dukes were scheduled to play the Hokies again in 2026 — their first meeting as two FBS programs — but Virginia Tech cancelled the game in January, paying JMU $800,000 to make room for a ninth ACC conference game. Even when the games get scheduled, the system finds ways to kill them.

Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech 49-35 in 2018 as a 28.5-point underdog. ESPN’s Football Power Index gave ODU a 1.8 percent chance of winning. Last September, ODU went back to Blacksburg and did it again — 45-26, leading 28-0 at halftime.

Liberty hit a 51-yard field goal with one second left to beat Virginia Tech 38-35 in 2020. The Hokies were favored by 16.5.

That’s three different Group of 6 programs in the same state, beating the same Power 4 opponent, in the span of a decade. Virginia Tech keeps scheduling these games. They keep losing some of them. And the sport is better for it.

The Wall of Refusal

Not every state works like Virginia.

In Alabama, UAB has played football since 1991 and at the FBS level since 1996. The campus is 55 miles from Tuscaloosa. In three decades, Alabama has never scheduled the Blazers. Not once. Zero games.

Troy has played football since 1909 and has never played Alabama. Troy has never played Auburn, either — the first meeting isn’t scheduled until 2031, more than a century into both programs’ existence. South Alabama has never played Alabama. Jacksonville State has never played Alabama.

That’s four FBS programs in the same state as two SEC schools — and between them, the total number of football games played against Alabama is zero.

Auburn at least put South Alabama on the schedule last September (Auburn won 31-15) and once played UAB, back in 1996. Jacksonville State took Auburn to overtime as an FCS team in 2015. But the pattern is clear: Alabama’s Power 4 programs have treated their in-state Group of 6 neighbors as if they don’t exist.

They exist. And when they get the chance, they compete.

Dead Rivalries

Some of the best in-state matchups didn’t die of natural causes. They were killed.

LSU and Tulane played 98 games between 1893 and 2009. It was one of the oldest rivalries in the sport — the “Battle for the Rag.” Tulane was an SEC member until 1966. The schools are 80 miles apart. Then LSU paid Tulane $700,000 to void the final six years of their contract, and the series went dark. It has been 17 years. Nothing is scheduled.

UCF and USF built one of the best rivalries in college football over 14 games between 2005 and 2022. The War on I-4 was real — UCF led the series 8-6, the games were routinely wild (the 2022 finale was a 46-39 UCF win after USF erased a 28-point deficit) and both fan bases cared deeply. Then UCF moved to the Big 12. No future football games are scheduled. The earliest both programs have openings is 2031.

Marshall and West Virginia played seven games from 2006 to 2012 as the Friends of Coal Bowl. West Virginia won all seven — including a 69-34 final in 2012 — and the series ended. Marshall has since beaten No. 8 Notre Dame at South Bend and Virginia Tech at home. No future games against WVU are scheduled.

Memphis and Tennessee haven’t played since 2010. Tennessee won 50-14. Nothing is scheduled. Memphis overcame an 18-point deficit to beat Arkansas 32-31 last September, so the gap between Memphis and the SEC is not what Tennessee might like to pretend.

The Ones Coming Back

Not all the news is bad.

Southern Miss and Ole Miss haven’t played since 1984 — a drought longer than some of these players’ parents have been alive. Southern Miss won the last two meetings. The programs are 170 miles apart in the same state, and there is no future game on either schedule.

Arkansas and Arkansas State played for the first time last September. The first time — ever. Arkansas won 56-14, but the real story was that it happened at all. Frank Broyles, Arkansas’s football coach and then athletic director, blocked the game for nearly 50 years. State legislators tried repeatedly to force it through law. It took 18 years after Broyles left the AD job for the game to finally get scheduled.

The Proof

The argument against these games has always been risk. A Power 4 program has nothing to gain and everything to lose.

The scoreboard says otherwise.

In 2022, App State beat No. 6 Texas A&M 17-14 at College Station. The same weekend, Marshall beat No. 8 Notre Dame 26-21 at South Bend. Two weeks later, Middle Tennessee — previously 0-24 against ranked opponents — beat No. 25 Miami 45-31 as a 26-point underdog.

In 2023, JMU erased that 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Virginia on the road.

In 2024, Northern Illinois beat No. 5 Notre Dame 16-14 on a field goal with 31 seconds left as a 28.5-point underdog. Notre Dame made it to the CFP championship game. That loss didn’t ruin them. It made the story better.

Last September, USF beat No. 13 Florida 18-16 in Gainesville on a game-winning field goal as time expired — the culmination of an 87-yard drive in the final 2:26. FIU beat Miami 30-24 in 2019. East Carolina won the Military Bowl over NC State 26-21 on an 86-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left. Fresno State has won four of its last five against UCLA.

These are not flukes. This is the sport telling us something. The gap between Group of 6 and Power 4 is real in resources and recruiting budgets. It is not always real on the field. And the games that prove it are the ones fans remember.

The Best Rivalry Nobody Talks About

East Carolina and NC State have played 36 times. NC State leads 21-15. ECU beat UNC 55-31 in Chapel Hill in 2013 and 70-41 at home in 2014. The Pirates don’t just compete with North Carolina’s Power 4 programs — they’ve beaten them badly and repeatedly.

San Jose State and Stanford play the Bill Walsh Legacy Game — a named, active rivalry between schools 15 miles apart. SJSU won 34-31 in 2024. Stanford won 30-29 in 2025. That’s what a real in-state series looks like.

These rivalries work because they’re played consistently. The fans show up. The games are competitive. The communities care. You don’t get that with one-off guarantee games every 15 years. You get it with commitment.

Play the Damn Games

Matt Roan didn’t call the JMU-Virginia game a business decision. He called it good for “the Commonwealth at large.” That’s the framing that matters.

These games are good for states. They bring communities together around something they already share — geography, pride and a love for football. They’re good for Group of 6 programs that need the exposure, the revenue and the chance to prove they belong. They’re good for Power 4 programs that claim to want competitive schedules. They’re good for fans who have been asking for decades.

Alabama has four FBS programs within driving distance and won’t play any of them. LSU paid $700,000 to stop playing Tulane. Conference realignment killed the War on I-4. Arkansas needed a century and an act of political will to play the school 200 miles up the road.

JMU is doing it right. They’ve beaten Virginia and North Carolina. They’re going back. They’re not afraid of the result, and neither are the Cavaliers.

The rest of college football should take notes.