Football at Nova

blaneyboy
Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:32:39 +0000

Villanova’s big time sport is basketball, where it is frequently nationally ranked and typically very competitive in the NCAA tournament.

It plays I-AA football (think the name of that Division has now been changed) and used to be in Atlantic 10 Conference, but now seems to be in the Colonial Athletic Association. So it plays William and Mary, Delaware and James Madison, along with out-of-conference games against Penn (Ivy League) and one big-time game against a I-A opponent a year. Temple, Maryland, & Rutgers have been recent I-A opponents, with Villanova beating Temple and Rutgers and being hammered by Maryland.

The football program is a fine program. Until the last 3 or 4 years, Villanova generally made the I-A playoffs and even made the national title game one year. The program has sent three or four players on to the NFL in last five years, the most prominent being Brian Westbrook of the Eagles. But the program loses a lot of money annually (more than $2 million) and does not have great fan support. A big game might attract 12,000 people for parents weekend, but the average attendance is more like 5,000 - 6,000.