James Madison qualified for its first-ever College Football Playoff in 2025, joining Tulane as non-power-conference teams included in the 12-team field. The Dukes’ appearance marked a major milestone for a program on the rise.
James Madison earned its spot by defeating Troy 31–14 to win the Sun Belt Conference, finishing the season as a true underdog in the playoff bracket.
Let’s take a closer look at James Madison University as a school, exploring its location, history, academic offerings, and more.
MORE: Explaining Group of 5 conferences with CFP automatic bid
Where is James Madison located?
James Madison University is a pubic research university located in Harrisonburg, Va., JMU is located in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley region. The school's campus is in northern Virginia, southwest of Washington D.C. And northwest of the state capital, Richmond.
As of Fall 2024, the school has 21,112 undergraduate students, including another 1,767 graduate ones. Per the school, JMU has a 75/25% in-state/out-of-state ratio.
What conference is James Madison in?
James Madison plays in the Sun Belt Conference, where the Dukes have played since 2022.
2025 marks just the fourth season for the Dukes in the FBS, previously playing in the FCS from 1980-2021, previously known as the NCAA Division I-AA.
In 2021, the school accepted an invitation to move up to the FBS, and joined the Sun Belt in 2022. The Dukes had impressive seasons at the FCS level, winning two national championships in 2004 and 2016, including six straight playoff appearances from 2014-2021. The Dukes made it to the FCS national championship in 2017 and 2019.
2025 marks the first-ever Sun Belt conference title for JMU.
MORE: College football's 30 highest-paid coaches
James Madison name origin
James Madison is named after the fourth president of the United States, James Madison, nicknamed "the father of the U.S. Constitution." The school was founded in 1908 to advance Madison's legacy. Via JMU:
At James Madison University, we define civic engagement as advancing the legacy of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution,” by preparing individuals to be active and responsible participants in a representative democracy dedicated to the common good.
As philanthropist David Rubenstein noted in a speech on Constitution Day 2018 at JMU, as the university named for the “Father of the Constitution,” we “have a special obligation to know something about the Constitution” and our namesake because “people who are more knowledgeable about our government, more knowledgeable about our Constitution, probably are going to be better citizens, vote more intelligently and be more engaged in our country."
JMU College Football Playoff History
James Madison has been in the FBS just four seasons. 2025 marked the first time the Dukes were ranked by the CFP, checking in at No. 25 and No. 24 in the last two weeks of the rankings.
Despite James Madison being ranked as high as 18th during the Dukes' 2023 season, JMU remained unranked by the CFP. JMU finished 11-2 that season, under now-Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti.
MORE: Most expensive coach buyouts in CFB history