Nick Saban addresses James Madison's hot start, rule keeping Dukes out of bowl games

When Nick Saban first took over as the head coach at Alabama, his wide receivers coach was Curt Cignetti. He was working his way up the coaching ladder, and his stop in Tuscaloosa was his last before he became a head coach at IU-Pennsylvania, Elon and, now, James Madison.

Cignetti and the Dukes have been the talk of college football, largely in part to their 9-0 start to their second year as an FBS program. Under current NCAA rules, JMU isn’t allowed to participate in bowl games and, therefore, can’t be ranked in the College Football Playoff top 25.

Saban noted that in his answer about Cignetti’s success, but also made it clear how happy he is for his former assistant as he succeeds at James Madison.

“I’m glad that he’s doing well,” Saban said during his Wednesday press conference. “I know that he’s done a really, really good job there. They have a good team. I know they bumped up. I hear people talking about the fact that they don’t qualify to be in the playoffs or whatever because this is their first year. I don’t know what the significance of that rule is.

“I coached for Frank — Curt’s dad — so I’m very close to the family. He did a great job for us here. I’m always excited to see guys that did a good job for us, when they get opportunities to have success and the opportunities and take advantage of those. He’s certainly done that well.”

The efforts to get James Madison eligible for bowl games are ramping up this week. The university sent a letter to the NCAA asking for relief from the rules keeping them out of bowl games. Over the last two years, the Dukes have totaled a 15-3 record against FBS teams since transitioning from FCS, and they noted that in the letter.

If they become bowl eligible, the question becomes how quickly JMU can wind up in the CFP rankings. Executive director Bill Hancock addressed that Tuesday night after the rankings reveal show, telling reporters the committee will rank bowl-eligible teams.

“Yeah, of course,” Hancock said when asked whether the committee will rank JMU immediately if it becomes bowl-eligible. “Just remember that the committee will rank any team that is eligible for postseason.”

Hancock was asked to clarify that remark, and the answer remained the same.

“Yes,” he said. “The committee will rank any team — I don’t want to be a smart-aleck here, but the fact is the committee will rank any team that’s eligible for postseason.”