Neither was Jacksonville St or James Madison eligible. They haven't been eligible yet because they must have more than 2 years past moving up to D1, to become eligible. This is both of their 2nd years after moving up, I believe.
I guess if they gave James Madison a bid they felt the need to do the same for Jacksonville to be 'fair'. Heck I think Army/Navy would've out drawn Minnesota for that matter. But I'm not fully familiar with how well Minnesota travels. Minnesota was 5-7 and also ineligible. Minnesota's record is 5-7 and Army Navy's records are 5-6, but they are given preference because they play in a P5.
The sense of fairness ended with those three teams, and didn't get much pull w/ Army/Navy. When money was there to be lost by exempting Army/Navy from this fairness. I'm alright with it, but I just thought it played into the conversation about us getting 6 bowl bids when Army/Navy wasn't given latitude on bowl bids, when Minnesota, Jacksonville St, and James Madison were.