James Madison's live reaction to making College Football Playoff goes viral

It was no surprise by Sunday morning that James Madison made the College Football Playoff field, but that didn't lessen the moment any as the team's players erupted in celebration upon officially seeing their place on the 12-team bracket.

JMU posted the clip to its social media accounts, showing players standing on tables in a team meeting room and singing the school's fight song in unison after the bracket was unveiled on the CFP selection show, with the Dukes earning the No. 12 seed and a first-round matchup at No. 5 Oregon on Dec. 20.

Earned.#GoDukes | #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/1cupddsYP5
— JMU Football (@JMUFootball) December 7, 2025

James Madison is 12-1 overall, No. 24 in the final CFP rankings and won the Sun Belt championship decisively, 31-14 over Troy on Friday.

But the Dukes needed some help to make their playoff dream a reality. The current CFP setup awards automatic berths to the five highest-ranked conference champions, which would normally be the four Power 4 champions and the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion, in this case, Tulane from the AAC.

But because the five-loss Duke Blue Devils won the ACC title over Virginia, after getting into the game via a convoluted five-way tiebreaker over Miami, Georgia Tech, SMU and Pittsburgh, that opened the door for a second G5 team to make the playoffs, as 8-5 Duke wasn't anywhere close to the rankings.

While many have aimed at the CFP setup, leaving the likes of Notre Dame, Texas and Vanderbilt out, it's an incredible story for anyone connected to James Madison.

JMU, located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, is only in its fourth season at the FBS level after moving up from FCS, where it won national championships in 2004 and 2016.

James Madison was previously coached by Curt Cignetti, who is now the toast of college football for his incredible two-year run at Indiana, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and only unbeaten team left in the FBS. He was replaced by Bob Chesney, who has now been hired at UCLA but is finishing out the Dukes' postseason run.

James Madison is led by dynamic dual-threat quarterback Alonza Barnett III, who has passed for 2,533 yards, 21 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and rushed for 544 yards and 14 TDs, while running back Wayne Knight has rushed for 1,263 yards and 9 TDs.

James Madison faced only one P4 opponent all season, losing 28-14 at Louisville, and is set as a 21.5-point underdog to Oregon, per FanDuel Sportsbook.