Villanova football considering joining Big East

IF VILLANOVA WANTS its football program to move up from the Football Championship Subdivision level to join the Big East, all the university has to do is say yes.

The Daily News has learned that the Big East, one of six BCS conferences, has asked the Wildcats to make the jump.

And the school is officially considering the offer.

"The Big East very recently communicated its interest in adding Villanova as a football member," Villanova athletic director Vince Nicastro told the Daily News yesterday. "As a result, we have decided to embark on an in-depth evaluation of this opportunity.

"As you might suspect, this is a complex issue, which entails many dimensions - both quantitative and qualitative. While we will move forward on this as quickly as possible, it is critical that all of those dimensions are vetted thoroughly prior to making any final decision."

The Big East, through a spokesperson, opted not to comment. But conference sources confirmed Nicastro's statement. Sources added that while no formal proposal has been made, if Villanova says yes, it will become a reality.

Villanova, which has informally looked at the many factors involved for about a year, will now officially start the due-diligence process.

No timetable for a decision has been set. Sources said that in a best-case scenario, the Big East would like to have an answer by the end of the year. The conference presidents hold their annual meeting in November, and aren't scheduled to meet again until March. The Big Ten has its meetings in December, at which point it is expected to discuss additional expansion. The names of Big East teams reportedly have come up in past talks about the Big Ten.

From Villanova's standpoint, the discussion next proceeds to a committee composed of Board of Trustees members. The committee will conduct a study and present a recommendation to that 32-member governing body before a vote is taken. Whether that can be done by the end of the year remains unclear.

The Big East would like, for practical purposes, to add a ninth football team. Having eight teams means each team must schedule five nonconference games, which isn't always easy. And four of them play only three conference home games each season. Again, not preferable.

Villanova, which won its first FCS national football championship last year and is ranked No. 2 this season, following last week's 31-24 loss to Temple, has been a Big East member for every other sport since 1980-81, the conference's second year of existence.