Villanova University - Athletics

Athletics

Villanova University's varsity men's athletics programs include baseball, basketball, cross country running, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. Women's varsity athletics programs include basketball, cross country running, field hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and water polo.

Sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big East Conference, except for football and women's lacrosse. Football plays in the Colonial Athletic Association. Women's lacrosse plays in the Patriot League. The Wildcats are also part of the Philadelphia Big 5, the traditional Philadelphia-area basketball rivalry. Their fiercest city rivalry, which is called the "Holy War", is with St. Joseph's University.

In the NCAA graduation report released on November 18, 2009, Villanova has a graduation-success rate of 96 percent for student-athletes who entered college in 2002–03. Villanova women's basketball team is among the athletic program's 14 teams with a 100 percent graduation rate for 2002–03. The Wildcats' nationally ranked men's basketball and football teams are both at 92 percent. The men's basketball team's graduation-success rate places it fifth nationally among Division I schools.

In 2009, Villanova's football team won the national title in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA)."Our number-one priority at Villanova has always been recruiting kids who want to get a good education," Wildcats football coach Andy Talley said. Talley added that no matter how many games or titles Villanova wins, the athletic department's goal is to prepare students for life after college. Despite those comments, Villanova is currently evaluating whether or not the football program should accept a possible invitation to join the Big East Conference if so invited. Joining the Big East would allow Villanova to generate much more revenue from membership in a BCS conference. "Our football evaluation is ongoing," Villanova AD Vince Nicastro told The Associated Press. "We are moving forward as quickly as we can, but not at the expense of being absolutely thorough. We still don't have a specific decision date, but it is likely to be resolved some time during this academic year."