Nova, a small school (FCS Division) has been doing a study to find out the pros and cons of moving the their football program to the FBS and competing with the Big East teams. There have been questions about the size of the schools, the stadium and facilities, and of course, the biggest factor, money. For Villanova to scout and recruit top high school prospects, they will have to increase the number of scholarships, spend more on recruiting, and upgrade their facilities, all of which are big time financial investments, especially during a time when many schools are looking to cut their budgets and worry about finances.
According to Brian of vuhoops.com, it seems that Villanova may be working on the money issue:
"The final pre-decision Board of Trustees meeting took place this month, and topics related to the football program's invitation were discussed. While no public proclamations have been made by anyone in University administration, a few quiet actions may serve as a barometer for their leaning at this point."
Father Donohue and members of the athletics administration held a meeting for major boosters at the Syracuse basketball game. A meeting that reportedly included a speech from Coach Talley as well as pledges from some donors.
More interestingly, however, may be the news that prominent Trustees have been telegraphing their votes to major donors.
A source close to the program has passed along the information that prominent members of the Board have been approaching potential major donors to the program recently. That is in addition to fundraising being conducted by the Villanova Football Club.
With a fundraising goal of $25-35 million, it seems like the Board of Trustees is prepared to vote yes if that goal can be met.
The decision is largely a financial one at this point, after survey results showed a favorable response from the various groups included (student/alumni/area residents), and the administration is reportedly no longer concerned that attendance would be a major issue. These Board member's fundraising push shows that the power players seem to favor a "yes" vote right now.
So from the looks of things, it appears that Nova is reaching out to donors and trying to reel in as much money as possible before the Board of Trustees makes their final decision on the state of the program (whether to accept the Big East invite).
If the schools is able to get the necessary funds they believe it will require and the Board votes for the move, Villanova could be the next football team to join the Big East.
So it appears that Nova may be close to pulling the trigger and joining the Big East in football. It is still undecided and until something official is announced, the talk and discussion will still be out there.
The Big East has been trying to add more programs as the expansion fever seems to be taking a hold of every conference. This would be an interesting scenario for the conference. Villanova is a very historic school, but it is not read to compete on the field at the FBS. It will probably take them several years to build up their facilities, recruit the players, and get the fan base truly behind them.
There has been speculation that if Villanova took too long to decide their minds, the Big East could simply look elsewhere for another team, such as Orlando and UCF or even stay in Texas and add Houston, and the conference still could do that and make it a 10-team race (basketball would be a fun schedule). But for now, it appears that they are waiting on Villanova to make a decision and it could come soon.
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