The UConn Huskies are moving back to the Big East, which leaves their football team in a bind. The Huskies will become an independent squad on the gridiron, leaving an AAC football spot open.

The conference could decide to go forward with 11 football members, but on Tuesday, it was reported that a top FCS squad could make the jump to become the 131st FBS team.

Per Fargo Forum columnist Mike McFeely, the James Madison Dukes are positioning themselves to make the jump to the AAC should an invitation arrive:

Officially, JMU is in a wait-and-see mode. It’s a safe bet the school has already made it known they’d be interested in replacing UConn. On last October’s visit, some boosters in Harrisonburg said they believed the athletic administration had been calling the AAC just to let the league know JMU would like to join if the opportunity became available.

Asked via email for a response to UConn leaving, a Dukes athletic spokesman replied: “JMU Athletics has been fortunate to enjoy success across a wide span of sports in recent years with competitive excellence in the Colonial Athletic Association and at a national level while continuing to emphasize a holistic student-athlete experience. Our outlook on conference membership has not changed with recent events this summer. We have not received an invitation from another conference. Should an invitation be received, we will evaluate it according to key criteria and make the best decision for James Madison University.”

The move from FCS to FBS is never easy, but the Dukes have been a powerhouse at the lower level of play, competing with North Dakota State for titles. James Madison won the 2016 title.

Nothing official has been offered to James Madison yet, but we’ll see if that changes in the coming weeks.