Someone mentioned it earlier in this thread...

When Harrisonburg was 20,000, student body was 10,000, and the CAA was no where near as popular as it is today (or was)...JMU was getting 7,000+ people to games in JMU's prime.

Harrisonburg is now 50,000, student body is 20,000, and where JMU is (potentially) going is a much bigger national brand than the CAA in the 80's and 90's.

Considering the new convo would be JMU's convo for the next 30, 40, or even 50 years...you need to build for the program our admin expects to have in that time period. If that is 8,000, then so be it. However, I think you could just as easily justify 9,000 or 10,000 if JMU plans on moving to FBS, continuing to grow its mens and womens basketball program, becoming in a larger conference, and plan on the growth of Harrisonburg and the student body to continue.