The return to fully-filled schedules is coming as soon as this fall for teams across all sports at James Madison.

And athletic director Jeff Bourne of the Dukes is planning for it.

“There might be some exceptions where there’s some minor modifications to it for this coming year,” Bourne said, “not knowing 100 percent of what the revenue picture might look like for every institution. JMU, though, for the most part has gone back to pretty much a 2019 scheduling philosophy.”

The hope is the abbreviated slates necessary for this past academic year because of the coronavirus get left behind. But what was learned by athletic department personnel who put together brand-new schedules on the fly like they never had to before carries forward with them while readying for the years to come.

Bourne said he noticed schools in Virginia and neighboring states were more willing to play non-conference games against each other over the last six months than prior to the pandemic.

“In the future, we will look very critically at how we do schedule when it comes to away travel,” Bourne said, “especially travel that will require air travel or an excessive amount of time on the road. COVID has given us a window to evaluate, I think, about how we can make a lot of things happen outside of what we would normally consider with our mandatory or [in-conference] travel. And as a result, I think not just JMU, but schools across the country will look very closely at how they schedule and where they go.”

Most teams at JMU can find quality competition nearby, Bourne said.

During the virus-impacted year in which all seasons were played between this past November and this month, 11 JMU teams (baseball, men’s basketball, men’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, softball, women’s soccer, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball) combined to play 33 road non-conference regular-season contests. All but one of those games were played in the Commonwealth or a bordering state.

There is one caveat, however, in which Bourne said he’ll consider more expansive travel for non-league matchups away from home.

“I think we have to look at each of our respective programs and where the heart and center of key competition is located,” Bourne said. “And there could be merit at times for scheduling those contests.”

He used the football program’s start of a home-and-home series with Weber State as an example. The Dukes, who finished with a national semifinal loss at Sam Houston earlier this month, travel to Ogden, Utah, to meet the Wildcats on Sept. 18.

JMU and Weber State have squared off twice before, with the Dukes knocking off the Wildcats in the 2017 FCS quarterfinals and the 2019 semifinals.

“It’s a good experience for our kids to go out and play in a region like that,” Bourne said, “because you never know as an FCS institution whether or not you’ll have to make that trip in the playoffs. We were just in Texas dealing with that short window for travel and the different climate [against Sam Houston]. In Texas, it was heat. In Utah, it could be heat, but it’s most likely going to be elevation. That’ll be the big, big change. So, exposing your team to a range of elements, so you’re prepared if that day came [in the playoffs] I think has merit.”

Weber State makes the return trip to Bridgeforth Stadium on Sept. 3, 2022.

Early-season tournaments for softball, men’s and women’s basketball could be in play, too, according to Bourne.

Typically, JMU’s softball program, which plays Friday in the Knoxville Regional of the national tournament, normally goes into the postseason having already been exposed to other top teams around the country. In recent seasons, some early-season opponents of the softball Dukes included Tennessee, Cal, Oregon, Arizona State and Michigan. But because of the reduced schedule this spring, JMU’s only high-major opponent was Virginia.

“And I think the basketball programs looking at trips into the islands or certain venues where the early tournaments are played over the holidays are important things to look at,” Bourne said. “But, for the most part, I think for the rest of our sport programs, there’s strong competition for those regionally and opportunities within a fairly general region of where we are.”

Bourne said the JMU football program is still looking for a pair of games for the 2023 season including a date with an FBS opponent.

The Dukes don’t have an FBS opponent scheduled for this coming campaign, but do for 2022 (at Louisville), 2024 (at North Carolina), 2025 (at Virginia Tech), 2026 (at Liberty) and 2028 (at North Carolina).

“We’re trying to fill that ’23 hole right now and that’s been challenging,” Bourne said. “Part of our philosophy in how we schedule is we try as much as we can to stay regional. Now, we’ll have to fly to Louisville and we may have to find an opponent in ’23 that we’re flying to. But, I just prefer to bus because of the cost.”

Bourne said the average difference between busing and flying to an FBS opponent is around $130,000.

“You’re playing those games for resources and if you have to fly, you’re spending a big chunk of your revenue on flying,” he said.

Currently, there are 28 FBS programs without an FCS opponent and room for a non-conference game in 2023. Some regionally include Georgia Tech, Marshall and Pittsburgh. Other notables are Alabama, Central Florida, Miami, Northwestern and SMU.

JMU only has one game locked in for 2023 – a Sept. 9 home contest with Morehead State – and also needs to secure another FCS opponent for that year. Bourne said landing FCS competition is even becoming tougher and paying for those opponents has become more expensive.

“If you go back five years ago and look what it took to bring an opponent in compared to now,” Bourne said, “even going forward through 2025 we’ve probably got consistency in the $150,000 range. But you used to be able to bring people in for $60,000 or $70,000.”

The schedules for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs are nearly finished, Bourne said.

“We’re really close,” Bourne said. “I know the women have some really quality opponents coming in, which is great. The men, likewise, a really good schedule for them.”

He said scheduling is becoming easier for the men’s basketball program after the Dukes finished 13-7 and earned the top seed for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament in coach Mark Byington’s first season at the helm.

“I’ve heard from colleagues and peers a lot of complimentary things about the arena,” Bourne said. “What’s going to help us most with scheduling is the performance of the team, because if you’re trying to bring in a quality opponent, the RPI and where you’re ranked is a huge part of that. Many times they can’t afford to play you if you’re not good, so I feel really good about where both of our programs are.”