AP Top 25 Extra Points: No. 24 James Madison puts itself in running for CFP in Chesney's 2nd year

“It’s great to be in the Top 25 conversation — that means people are noticing the work our guys are putting in," Chesney told the AP through a spokesman. "But that can’t be our focus. Rankings don’t win games — preparation and improvement do. Every day, our job is to get better.”

This is JMU’s fourth season in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Curt Cignetti led the Dukes deep into the Championship Subdivision playoffs three straight years and coached them during their first two in the FBS.

Cignetti parlayed JMU's combined 19-4 record in 2022-23 into the job at Indiana, where he’s 21-2 and has the unbeaten Hoosiers ranked No. 2 after going to the CFP last year. Cignetti last month was awarded a new eight-year contract paying him an average of $11.6 million annually.

The 48-year-old Chesney, who earns just under $900,000 at James Madison, has continued the roll Cignetti started and has been mentioned as a potential candidate at Penn State and Virginia Tech.

Last year, the Dukes posted an eye-popping 70-50 win over North Carolina in Chesney's third game, and they finished 9-4 with a bowl win.

This year, they led Louisville in the second half before losing 28-14. Since then, they've won seven straight and lead the Sun Belt Conference in 17 statistical categories. They were able to pull away from Marshall for a 35-23 road win Saturday that made them 8-1 overall and 6-0 in league play.

Chesney grew up in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania, and played Division III ball 70 miles away at Dickinson College in Carlisle. His head coaching journey has taken him from Division III Salve Regina in Rhode Island to Division II Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts to the FCS, at Holy Cross in Worcester. He left each place much better than he found it.

Now he's continuing what Cignetti started at JMU in the Sun Belt, which has produced a half-dozen coaches who went on to the Power Four or American Conference, the highest-resourced G5 league.

Nothing would build the Dukes' brand more than crashing the CFP. To do it, they would have to win out at a minimum and probably need chaos over in the American.

They play the next two games at home, against Appalachian State and a nonconference game against Washington State. They close at Coastal Carolina in what could decide the East Division representative in the Sun Belt championship game.

“If we start looking too far ahead there won't be anything left to accomplish,” Chesney said, “so it's very important for us to undertand that this recognition is happening because they're winning, and that's nice. But why they are winning is what's important to focus on, and I know our guys are capable and locked in on doing that.”

Hoosiers or Aggies?

The gap in the AP poll between No. 2 Indiana and No. 3 Texas A&M has tightened after the Hoosiers edged Penn State, now on a six-game losing streak, 27-24 on the road and the Aggies were in control throughout in a 38-17 win at a then-ranked Missouri.

Indiana went from 11 first-place votes to six this week and A&M from one to four. A total of 31 voting points separate the two, down from 68.

Texas A&M (9-0) has played its last three games on the road, and three of its four wins away from College Station were against ranked opponents. Indiana was No. 2 and A&M was No. 3 behind Ohio State in the initial CFP rankings. One of the storylines this week will be whether the committee moves the Aggies ahead of the Hoosiers. A&M is No. 1 in record strength, a new metric the committee uses to evaluate teams.

“I don’t know how many times someone has gone on the road three straight weeks in this conference and finished that stretch 3-0,” Aggies coach Mike Elko said. “It’s a credit to the character we have in the locker room.”

Tightly bunched

Only three voting points separated No. 6 Mississippi and No. 7 Oregon.

The Rebels, who beat the Citadel of the FCS 49-0, jumped over an Oregon team that won 18-16 in the rain at Iowa on a field goal with 3 seconds left.

Oregon was ahead of Mississippi on 33 ballots; the Rebels were ahead of the Ducks on 32. Mississippi got the promotion because 18 ballots listed the Rebels at least two spots ahead of Oregon. Twelve ballots had the Ducks ranked at least two spots higher than Mississippi.

Extra points

California's 29-26 overtime win at then-No. 14 Louisville marked the Bears' first road win over a ranked opponent in the Eastern time zone since they knocked off a 15th-ranked Michigan State in 2002. It also marked the second time this season the Bears played three time zones away from home and won. They beat Boston College 28-24 in September. ... Texas Tech, which moved up a spot from No. 9 after beating then-No. 8 BYU 29-7, is in the top 10 in three of the four major defensive categories. The Red Raiders’ seven points allowed against BYU were their fewest against a top-10 opponent since they beat Texas A&M 14-7 in 1995. Texas Tech held BYU scoreless until the fourth quarter, marking the fifth time this season the Red Raiders had a shutout through three quarters. ... No. 20 Virginia had lost no fumbles through its first nine games before losing three in its 16-9 loss to Wake Forest. No. 16 Miami is the only FBS team to not lose a fumble.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football