Villanova football joins Patriot League

[nickgyp]

Recently announced:

https://villanova.com/news/2025/6/5/villanova-football-accepts-invitation-to-join-patriot-league-as-associate-member-in-2026.aspx

Not sure how all the NIL monies and recently settled federal lawsuit settlement will affect FCS football but it appears Nova will be making a go of it in the Patriot League along with Georgetown. Seems there will be a place for football not so spoiled by money.

[Bruce]

It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the NIL era.


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[nickgyp]

Agree, Bruce! I think there will be continue to be a place for non-NIL college football for young men who just love to play the game. Kids who may not be the 3 star athletes but who can play competitively nonetheless. In Cincinnati, loads of really good high school players go off and have very good careers at FCS schools, D-2, D-3 and NAIA schools. And these programs succeed even though there isn?t the notoriety. In a sense, this football is more pure than the hoopla that passes for big-time programs. It can be just as entertaining and satisfying.

I saw this with Xavier club football; and even though Xavier scholarship football had some incredible players, it never was a Michigan, OSU, USC or Notre Dame. And that was fine. The key is finding a niche that is financially sustainable and also an educational opportunity to obtain a degree. In this NIL world, I believe it is possible but we will see. Competition for enrollment, with or without football, will be the challenge.

[Bruce]

There’s a thread over at musketeerhoops.com (the successor to xavierhoops.com) that’s talking about the financial difficulties facing X. The idea of adding football to attract male students has been mentioned.

[nickgyp]

I had read that Xavierhoops.com list its domain and was non-existent. Will check it out. Xavier doesn?t need an on-campus stadium to make football work but I thought upgrades to Corcoran were in the future anyway

[Bruce]

Apparently, the database was corrupted beyond repair and Muskie decided he didn’t want to start over from scratch. I created the new site so there’d still be somewhere to talk about Xavier basketball.