HARRISONBURG, Va. (WRIC) — James Madison University athletics have officially joined the Sun Belt Conference.
After announcing the approval of the transition by its board in October of 2021, the Dukes became an official member of the conference on Friday, July 1. The move comes after a vast array of success within its football program, as the team brought in six Colonial Athletic Association conference titles since 2015 and a FCS National Championship in 2016.
JMU has seen success in other sports as well such as women’s lacrosse, where it won the national title in 2018, and softball, where it has made the NCAA tournament seven times since 2014.
In their first FBS season, JMU will play the likes of Louisville, Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina.
Virginia-rival Old Dominion University will also be joining JMU in the Sun Belt for its first season this upcoming fall.