CFP Underdogs JMU and Tulane Are Big Winners in Merch Sales

James Madison and Tulane are both huge double-digit underdogs in their respective debut College Football Playoff games on Saturday, but both schools have been experiencing massive demand for merchandise commemorating what could be a once-in-a-lifetime moment.

The Group of 6 schools both received automatic CFP bids as two of the five highest-ranked conference champions, thanks to the chaos caused by unranked Duke winning the ACC. 

No. 5 Oregon is favored to beat No. 12 JMU by 21 points, but optimism is still high around the program that’s only in its third season playing the FBS as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. 

“I’ve been at the bookstore since 1999, and I was here in 2004 when JMU won their 1st FCS championship, and that was really, really exciting as well,” campus store director Mark Glenn tells Front Office Sports. “But this is a little bit of a different animal.”

Online orders for JMU CFP apparel started the evening of Dec. 7, and stock arrived at the store Dec. 10. “It’s really hard to keep on the shelves,” Glenn says. “And our online business has been booming.” He estimates they’ve processed 3,000 orders this week alone, which makes the 288 Sun Belt champions shirts they premade before the Dec. 5 game seem like nothing.

The most popular CFP items are the Nike “Playoff Mode” hoodie with a JMU logo and a T-shirt that includes logos of all 12 teams in this year’s field. Wholesale retailer Blue 84 is making some of the CFP merch, too.

Glenn says his 24,000-square-foot store, which is operated by nationwide college retailer Follett, has had to bring in workers from other nearby campus shops to help with extra shifts. “Some people have been working some long hours,” he says.

Riding the Wave

No. 6 Ole Miss is favored by 17.5 points over No. 11 Tulane, but the Green Wave contingent in New Orleans and beyond is riding just as high as their fellow underdogs at JMU.

Campus Connection, a Tulane apparel shop in the Big Easy, has shipped 1,000 orders this week. The store had to bring in some employees from Tulane Sports Properties—the athletic department’s multimedia rights arm—for some extra hands.

One of the most popular Tulane items is actually not part of any CFP collection: a hoodie with “RMFW” written in block letters (use your imagination), which American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti plans on wearing at Saturday’s game in Oxford.