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James Madison

Dukes · Sun Belt

Head coach Billy Napier Year 1 with James Madison

Year-1 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.19 W vs. preseason expectation

Season Projection · 2026 W0

10,000 sims
9.1
Expected wins
9-3
Proj record
6 to 12
Win range (90%)
#27 (14–47)
Final rank (90%)
12%
Make playoff
55%
Win conference

Path to Glory

Tap a win or a loss on each pivotal game to see how the playoff probability shifts. Leave any game unset to average across both outcomes.

Make the playoff

12%

Baseline projection.

  • at Old Dominion
    Away · Sep 26
  • at Southern Miss
    Away · Nov 6
  • at UConn
    Away · Nov 14
  • at San Diego State
    Away · Sep 20

Pivotal games are the 5 with the largest playoff-probability swing, ranked by the model. Math: chained Bayesian log-odds update from the conditional simulation set; gets the directionally right answer but won't perfectly capture cross-game correlations until the full Monte Carlo pipeline lands.

Returning production · 2026

41 score
  • Quarterback 10% (4/5 )
  • Offensive line 75% (15/20 players)
  • Skill (RB/WR/TE) 44% (22/27 )
  • Front 7 (DL/LB) 50% (24/29 )
  • Secondary 17% (20/25 )
  • Special teams 100% (5/7 )

Share of last season's production each unit returns. Higher means more continuity: 70%+ is healthy, 45–70% a normal rebuild, under 45% a major turnover.

Portal additions · 2026

-0.2 rating

30 proven transfers in, carrying the production below from their prior school.

  • Noah Grevious WR ← VMI 75 impact
  • Nick Herman RB ← Drake 72 impact
  • Jeremiah Harrison WR ← East Tennessee State 59 impact
  • Javis Mynatt S ← Texas State 52 impact
  • DJ Kelly CB ← Toledo 48 impact
  • Seth Cromwell RB ← Northern Arizona 44 impact

Impact scores offensive skill additions (QB/RB/WR/TE) — prior-season production normalized within position (100 ≈ a 90th-percentile producer at that spot) and discounted for non-FBS competition, so a top back counts alongside a top quarterback. Defensive and O-line additions count as transfers but aren't box-score measurable, so they carry no impact score. The rating figure is this class's portal contribution vs. the FBS average, capped at ±2.5.

Situational efficiency · 2025

FBS percentile rank
  • 3rd-down conversion 42.7% 84th — strong
  • Red-zone TD rate 14.6% 50th — average
  • 4th-down aggression 38.5% 63th — average
  • Late & close 3.8 yds/play 21th — bottom tier

Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.

Schedule

Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.

Latest Stories

  • Recap

    James Madison: 2025 Week 16 recap

    James Madison sits at 12–2 and holds a 12.3 rating in GIE's current standings, good for 27th overall. The Dukes dominated Troy 31–14 at home last week, a convincing performance that underscored their offensive efficiency in the Sun Belt.…

More coming

Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.