It’s no secret that the Big East conference is looking for more football friends. Not only friends among the BCS committee, but more teams to call their own. But is asking Villanova to join the conference for football going a bit too far? To me, the move of the Big East inviting the small Philadelphia based college felt about as awkward as an NRA member inviting a PETA spokesman on a hunt. Then I did my homework, and found the invitation makes a bit more sense than originally thought.
‘Nova, a traditional powerhouse in basketball, making a move up in football actually makes a lot of sense when it comes to expanding its fan base and potential as a program. If the school wants to make the move for money, then were talking different wave lengths.
To a lot of college football fans it feels as if the Big East would be able to find a different program, though. East Carolina has been a quick rise team in Conference USA. Memphis sits in a major metropolitan area and in the heart of southern football. Temple, who was a member of the Big East from 1991-to-2004, is a current member of the Mid American Conference and like ‘Nova, calls Philadelphia home. All seem like reasonable teams to make the move to the Big East.
When looking at the logic of each team making the move to the Big East, however, ‘Nova may have just as strong an argument as the others, pointing to two current Big East members for support.
First there’s East Carolina. The Pirates, who mostly compete with ACC programs in non-conference games, has just a 1-4 record against Big East opponents the last five years. Their 5-9 record the last five years against all BCS conference schools seems alright considering they were the underdogs in all games, but how well will they do with a full schedule against BCS schools. The market for football in North Carolina is also spread out between NC State, North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest.
Memphis sits directly in the heap of a football hungry southern atmosphere. But the market for football viewing fans ranks No. 50 in the country. The Tigers have a tough enough time pulling out wins in the CUSA; a move to the Big East might be too big of a fight.
Temple seems to make the most sense of current FBS programs looking to get a foot in the door of the Big East. But they tried that once, remember? It didn’t go so well. Bringing Temple back into the Big East would feel like dating a crazy ex-girlfriend again. Not only was Temple a terrible member of the Big East, the breakup was a little awkward. The Conference couldn’t have its best programs in Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College, so it kicked to the curb its worse team, Temple, as well. Not even the Owls 9-4 MAC season last year can take away their 4-42 stretch between 2003 and 2006.
So, Villanova has their chance to make its case. Look no further for an opening argument than pointing to current Big East members Connecticut and South Florida for an example of what could be.
South Florida, whose football program began in 1997, made the move to Division-I in 2001. The Big East move came four years later after a two year stint with the CUSA. The Bulls have become a legit contender each year in the conference and have knocked off some of the country’s top programs.The level of competitive football prospects in Florida, which holds the South Florida program together, may be only matched by a few states nationwide, Pennsylvania being one of the top.
Connecticut made the move to Division-I in 2000, joining the Big East in 2004. In its first season the Huskies became bowl eligible winning nine games, beating Toledo in the Motor City bowl.
The Huskies relatively short move from a basketball powerhouse school and FCS success to a competitive contender is strikingly similar to what the Villanova program could endure.‘Nova faces some hurdles, however. The program won the FCS National Championship last season, but there will without a doubt be a learning curve making the switch to playing with the big boy’s fulltime. The school is also under the NCAA FBS requirement for stadium seating. Villanova Stadium currently houses 12,500 people, while the requirement sits at 15,000. The school has already ruled out an expansion and Lincoln Financial Field, which currently houses the Eagles and Temple football, is fully booked. The only viable option left for ‘Nova would be a soccer stadium in Chester Pennsylvania.
The Wildcats facility cost would undoubting increase. When UConn made the switch to FBS, their facilities got an upgrade as well, a $50 million upgrade. The number of scholarships Villanova would need to produce would also increase from 63 to 85. Another 22 scholarships would be needed for women’s sports to meet NCAA title IX requirements. All are reasons the school is currently mulling over the invitation, and may have been reasons why they turned down the invitation years back. But ‘Nova shouldn’t be concerned about making the move for money. Only around 10 percent of Division-1 schools made money on their athletic programs last year.
So maybe Villanova making the move from a Colonial FCS program to the Big East isn’t as big of a move as originally thought, or at least not when it comes to money. Maybe the Big East could become the gateway for FCS teams looking to make the move up in football. It’s worked in the past, who’s to say Villanova doesn’t have what it takes?
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