Football is hoping for a big bounce-back after 2011′s terrible showing. Improves quarterback play will be necessary and they may need a young center to step up and play in place of Dan Shirey who could easily miss the season. That said, the offense looked good in spring practice and will only get better once the new freshmen arrive to provide the team with needed depth.

Villanova wanted to play Bowl Subdivision football, but how badly?

According to sources, the feasibility study that the school conducted never even bothered to plug in numbers for other conferences than the Big East. While certain assumptions could be made about big-money power conferences, the invitation would not be coming from anywhere above the Big East on the college football food chain.

Why ‘Yes’?

What swayed the board in April 2011?

Fans talked extensively about ‘protecting basketball,’ and that might have played in to the thought process, but it wasn’t a major concern. It wasn’t about money either — Villanova football was not projected to be any more profitable in the Big East than in the CAA, for practical purposes, the athletic department was expected to spend more money, make more money and end up with just about the same financial loss every year.

The biggest factor is that a move to the Big East was a good fit with the university’s strategic plan.

When Fr. Peter Donohue took over the presidency of Villanova University in 2006, his goal was to grow the school — not necessarily in enrollment, but in academic prestige, profile, and recognition. He wanted his presidency to take the school from regional powerhouse to national university.

A move to the Big East in football would have meant a dramatic change in Villanova’s profile as a university and would have garnered more national recognition for the school. Basketball accomplishes that on a regional level, and achievements like reaching the Final Four can put the university brand out to a larger base, but neither can consistently build brand recognition for a school like playing football on a major stage.

What has been going on since then?

The university didn’t suddenly decide that Big East football was a bad idea after the three-school group jammed the brakes on the upgrade express. Administrators initially were working with the conference to resolve the issues that were being used to block Villanova’s admission, but when Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced that they would join the ACC in September 2011, the Villanova football was essentially shelved.
The commissioner had bigger problems to deal with and the conference schools were in panic-mode, working to secure their own future first and the Big East’s viability second. Inviting Villanova to play football wasn’t the public relations coup or the quick fix that the conference was looking for.

Villanova tried to make some noise initially, but the Wildcats were worried about the conference as well.

There was no real movement on Villanova football for most of the academic year, but West Virginia’s hasty exit from the conference set a course that would get the Wildcats back into the picture. Down to seven teams for the 2012 football season, the Big East would have to add a school to start immediately, and of the willing partners for such a move, the football schools preferred Temple.

Temple didn’t have the support of some of the basketball schools, but given the circumstances, it would have been difficult for that opposition to hold them out unless a better option arose. That light opposition was enough for the Wildcats to get football back into the discussion, if only a little bit. The conference agreed to offer financial support for the Villanova football program, which had been raising money, much of it for facilities upgrades, since the football discussion began. They also received a promise that there would be no entry fees to join the Big East conference if a move was made within the next three years.

What the Wildcats did not receive was a guarantee that their program would actually be admitted within that span.

Status updates

We have reported that Villanova has not seriously explored its options to place football in an FBS conference outside of the Big East. Some internal “watercooler” discussion may have occurred within the walls of Jake Nevin Fieldhouse, but no numbers have been crunched and no serious discussions with conference officials have apparently been had.

The Wildcats are waiting.

Waiting for the Big East to be ready for a 14th member, or more-likely a 16th member. Waiting for the next conference television contract to be negotiated and for the BCS to determine what their 4-team playoff proposal will look like — and how the revenue would be distributed.

Right now, the Big East has a seat at the power table, but the BCS is changing and so is college football. The place for the Big East in the new system has yet to be determined and it seems that both the conference and Villanova administrators are content to take a wait-and-see approach.

There are other FCS schools waiting for an invitation to move up. Liberty University announced recently that they would be seeking an invitation. Appalachian State has also declared its intentions to move up. The only difference is that those schools aren’t shooting for the stars like ‘Nova — the Wildcats don’t want to start at the bottom, it seems.

The big mistake

The NCAA had instituted a 4-year moratorium on programs moving from FCS (I-AA) to FBS (I-A) that ended in the fall. The stated purpose of the moratorium was to ‘study the effects’ of those moves. The end of the moratorium has seen a flurry of activity as schools that have been eyeing the Bowl Subdivision during that time have solicited and received invitations to move.

Schools are no-longer allowed to move up to the Bowl Subdivision without an invitation to join a bona fide FBS conference.

According to at least one report, however, the moratorium may be coming back. CBS Sports’ Tony Barnhardt noted in his survey of the FCS landscape that there is a belief that not only will the moratorium return, but that it could be a decade long when it does.

“For me personally, it [a possible moratorium] created a major sense of urgency,” ODU athletic director Wood Selig told the Daily Press of Hampton Roads, Virginia about his school’s decision to move up.

In other words, if you don’t move soon, it may be a long time before there is another chance, and with the landscape changing rapidly, the conference cannot be assured that there will be a seat open at the table when that chance arises.

Villanova’s time is running out. Conferences cannot expand indefinitely and the option to move to FBS won’t always be there.

There are no guarantees on the table. Villanova could be offered an invitation by the Big  East in the Fall, or they could be offered that invitation never. By the time that determination is made, realignment could be back in hibernation, with leagues as big as they are going to be.

Villanova received a nominal amount of money from the Big East, but it does not appear that there were any promises. Without a guarantee that the league would have room for the other Philadelphia school’s football team in the future, it would have been prudent to more thoroughly explore the possibility of a move for football outside of the Big East.

One concern that Villanova’s decision-makers have is that such a move might have a negative impact on the school’s other sports. If the Big East were to balk at Villanova playing football in another FBS conference (and the conference bylaws suggest that Nova would require the Big East to waive the requirement to play all its sports in the conference (where available). Waivers have been granted — Notre Dame has one — but to request a waiver before the Big East has given a final answer on membership might cause some strife.

That said, Louisville’s place in the Big East has not been seriously compromised by their now-public proclamations that they would seek an invitation to the Big 12 or ACC if either conference were to offer one. Conference relationships are about money more than pride and it is easy enough to get past any perceived slight when the national television networks are paying out.

If Villanova is serious about football, the next step is to finish the feasibility study, by re-engaging consultants and/or attorneys to determine whether the school has other options to become an FBS institution. School leaders talk about not wanting to bankrupt the school, but you cannot determine that an option is not financially possible until you have actually looked into it.

That doesn’t mean more surveys, it means an honest look at school and conference finances in other conferences and an in-depth look at the Big East bylaws and any other governing documents to determine what, exactly, must be done to make a move.

Will it happen?

If the Big East is willing to add Villanova football before the NCAA shuts down the upgrade process again, it would seem likely that the Wildcats would commit to a move.

Television money is a factor, but despite some doubts from observers, it certainly seems that the money will be there when negotiations begin in earnest this fall. Both Fox and NBC made presentations to conference officials this morning on the first day of Big East meetings with ESPN waiting their turn to present as well. There will be multiple bidders for the conference, which means a competitive deal should be possible.

The BCS is another factor. Automatic qualification will become a thing of the past, but in order to gain support for a system that could marginalize most schools, the four biggest conferences in college football may have to make the new system a lucrative one for conferences like the Big East. How that will work remains in question, and it will be a little longer before we have a clear picture.

If Villanova is being proactive and reactive at the same time. The proactive is a plan to invest in football facilities that would be needed to make a move or to be among the top programs in FCS. The reactive aspect is the rest — the waiting.

Being reactive rather than proactive about football is where the university’s leaders are taking a massive risk. That risk could result in a big reward, a fast-forward into what will be the 6th-best football conference after this round of realignment and no negative impact on any other sport. It could also result in a football program stuck in the second-class and continued impotence in conference realignment.

Being proactive could result in accepting an offer to join a “lesser conference” in football. It could also result in a change of circumstances for basketball. It could also present Villanova as a more serious option for football, and would start the wheels rolling on a process that could give Villanova more options down the line. The ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC, if they are going to expand again, will do so by adding schools that are already at the FBS level. Even the Sun Belt has expressed a preference for current FBS schools.

The Big East is no different — Villanova was only getting consideration because of it’s position as a current member in 22 other sports. If Villanova had an FBS program, it would be a much stronger argument to be included.

Ultimately, it isn’t an easy call, but Villanova should be exploring all options, if for no other reason than to know what those options really are. You cannot make informed decisions without collecting all of the information.

“I was very excited to learn I’d not only be representing  Allentown Central Catholic, but the entire Lehigh Valley in the 2012 Big 33 game”, Gulyas told Big33.org. “A lot of great players have played in this game and to be added to that list is a huge honor.  I’m excited to compete with the best of the best and also spend a week with my host family and buddy.”

In addition to his tremendous statistics, Gulyas’ Allentown Central Catholic team won the 2010 Pennsylvania AAA State Championship — going undefeated.

Coaches from bigger schools were talking to Gulyas, which may have caused him to delay his college decision. Penn State and Boston College both checked in on him, but passed because he wasn’t the ideal height for his position (he is taller than Wes Welker, for the record). Villanova wasn’t able to give him a scholarship when he was ready to decide, but he chose to be a Wildcat over taking a scholarship elsewhere.

“I chose Villanova because of the academics and people”, he said.  “The coaches and players all made me feel welcome on my visit and it just felt like the right place.”

“He’s arguably the most productive wide receiver in the history of Pennsylvania high school football,” new Villanova secondary coach Tony Trisciani told the Morning Call. Trisciani coached against Gulyas for the last few seasons, while he was the head coach at Lehigh Valley-area Whitehall High School. “We’re very fortunate to have him as a Wildcat, and in our offense he is going to be a great fit as a slot receiver.”

Another incoming freshman, Corey Majors, participated in the game last summer before spending the 2011 season at prep school.

The Big 33 Football Classic is an annual All Star game, pitting the best high school football graduating players from Pennsylvania against their counterparts from Ohio. It has been a tradition since 1957, and the game’s alumni have gone on to illustrious college and professional careers. There has never been a Super Bowl that didn’t have at least one Big 33 alumnus on the field.

Ohio has won the last three games in the series, and 12 out of 24 appearances in the game which had previously matched Pennsylvania’s best with Texas and Maryland as well.

This year’s game will take place on June 16, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

An announcement is scheduled for 2:30 pm today and they will complete one final season in the CAA before joining CUSA.

CAA football will have just eight members in the 2013 season now. The league, which has been creeping further and further south in the pigskin sport has had as many as 12 football members in the past. Only four of the eight remaining football members are also members of the CAA in other sports — which isn’t a huge problem since, legally, the football conference is a separate entity than the basketball league.

It is a little bit of a problem though.

All current CAA all-sports members have the opportunity to add football to the conference if they make the commitment in the next few years. Of the remaining members on the basketball side, only George Mason, Drexel and UNC-Wilmington are not participating currently in CAA football and have not previously participated (Hofstra and Northeastern could theoretically return to the league, but both dropped the sport recently).

Beyond those internal candidates, the league cannot add any outside candidates to the football conference without the approving vote of 75% of the football members in “good standing. That means that at-least two of the football-only members of the conference would have to approve of any addition to their ranks. That could complicate things for the conference, which might want to add some schools with football programs that are not acceptable to the football conference membership. Conversely, the football conference may want to offer an invitation to some FCS football schools that don’t play basketball at a high enough level for the rest of the conference.

Unlike the Big East, where the survival of football is crucial for the conference’s revenue going forward, the CAA does not generate significant revenue from it’s FCS league — and won’t likely in the future. Instead, the conference’s revenue currently does and likely will continue to come from basketball success.

For the football-only schools, who have a full vote on all football conference issues and membership, the well-being of CAA basketball is irrelevant, however. The football league has its own problems that must be solved independent of the rest of the CAA.

Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports suggests Davidson and College of Charleston as CAA additions, but neither would be much help to the football league. Charleston doesn’t field a football team and while Davidson does, it is in the Pioneer League, whose schools make next-to-no financial commitment to their programs — and Davidson would be likely to keep their football team there if possible.

For the football schools, Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina seem like more reasonable options. Liberty University and Appalachian State would have also been great additions for the football league, but both have recently committed to moving to FBS if an invitation can be obtained and cannot offer the level of commitment that the CAA needs to stabilize.

The division of the CAA into a football conference and an all-sports conference with full membership and voting on the football side for football-only members is a complication that holds-over from the days of the Yankee Conference’s merger with the Atlantic 10. Only two of the Atlantic 10 football members were also members of the A-10 in other sports, however, and five of them were in the CAA — until Northeastern joined the CAA in a move that would allow the CAA to sponsor a football conference. They didn’t start a new conference though, they just adopted the Atlantic-10′s conference.

Different legal entities. Different bylaws. Same commissioner and support staff.

Make no mistake then, that the CAA’s football conference is not necessarily going to be on the same page as the rest of the CAA on expansion issues. Maine and UNH would probably like some new northern football playmates. Villanova and Delaware would like to add some stronger FCS programs to keep the league’s reputation up there. Richmond won’t care if their primary conference (A-10) picks off all of the quality hoops programs from the CAA, as long as their alumni are happy with the football product.

The football conference is in a precarious position, however. The only thing keeping James  Madison from following ODU to I-A football is that they don’t yet have an invitation. Delaware has reportedly been very happy as an FCS program, but if the CAA can’t rebuild, they will have to make and “up or down” decision to join a lesser league like the Patriot, or to make a commitment to seek a move to FBS.

According to The News Journal’s Kevin Tresolini, an FBS move has gained some traction among Delaware’s Trustees. There may even be a good chance that Delaware could be the Philadelphia-area replacement for Temple University in the MAC.

It seems that every remaining CAA football school is considering their options.

Villanova will also have to consider its options, especially if Delaware (a school that Villanova has played more times on the football field than any but Boston College) decides to make the jump. Administrators at Nova are currently content to wait and see where things go with the Big East. Can they work things out with the football membership to secure an invite? Will a new television deal and the proposed BCS playoff lead to more or less stability in the conference?

If Villanova has considered joining a different FBS conference, it hasn’t been serious enough to warrant much study or consideration at this point. Sources have confirmed that the study done last year was specific to the Big East and that other conferences were not considered and had not been discussed by the Trustees.

The NCAA “landscape,” however, remains a topic of discussion for administrators at Villanova — and at almost every school.

Just two years later, the NCAA is now close to opening the field up even more, expanding to 24 teams.That is 20 more teams than the Bowl Subdivision’s proposed playoff.

For Villanova, playing at the highest levels of FCS football means that the field’s expansion should only make it easier for Andy Talley’s program to earn a bid. The CAA was a major beneficiary of the last expansion effort and this

The top eight teams would be seeded under the proposal and would get a first-round bye. That is up from just five seeded teams currently. The Pioneer League, a low-expense and large footprint conference, would be granted an automatic bid to the tournament for the first time in their history, the other three new places would be at-large bids available to schools from any conference.

The Ivy League and SWAC do not participate in the FCS postseason. That means that although there are 124 schools playing football at the FCS level, only 103 of them would potentially be eligible for a playoff bid. Just under a quarter of the subdivision would participate in the playoffs. By comparison, 19.8% of college basketball programs earn a bid to the NCAA Division I basketball tournament.

“Old Dominion I understand is most likely to accept a bid to Conference USA,” he told a Richmond radio station. “I think that’s imminent from everything I’ve heard, that they’re making an announcement on Monday. I haven’t heard that from any ODU folks, but that’s what I understand is right around the corner.”

The move would leave the CAA in a weakened position, likely in need of a few additions in football in order to remain stable and viable long-term. It could also be the straw that breaks the camels’ back and forces current CAA football members to seek out other opportunities. Delaware, for example, has been very content to stay at the FCS level, where the school has been successful and profitable, but if the CAA appears to be collapsing, the Blue Hens may consider a move to the FBS ranks.

For other schools, an FBS invite won’t be as easy to come by.

As for new members, it seems that Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina could be on the CAA radar, but don’t look to Appalachian State; they’re heading to FBS sooner than later.

On the basketball side, it seems that while VCU is still considering a move to the Atlantic 10 conference, George Mason has opted to stay with the CAA.

Boise met with MWC

Meanwhile, in the Big East, CBS Sports reports that Boise State has met with a Mountain West Conference representative this week. The Broncos have not yet officially given the conference notice of their withdrawal, and the MWC is attempting to persuade the Broncos to stay. They were scheduled to join the Big East in the 2013 football season as a football-only member with their other sports moving to the WAC.

Recent changes to the WAC have significantly altered that conference, however, and only 5 members remain in the conference with two FBS-playing members likely to depart the league as well. If the WAC cannot rebuild into a viable conference for the Boise State programs, the Broncos will need to find an alternative home for their Olympic sports.

“We are actively monitoring the changing landscape in college athletics and remain committed to making the best long-term decisions for Boise State,” a BSU spokesman told CBS.

Boise State has until June 30 to formally withdraw from the Mountain West in order to join the Big East on schedule in 2013, according to the CBS report. The other five schools joining the Big East in 2013 have all given their current conferences formal notice already. Under their contract with the Big East, if they fail to join the conference, they would owe a $5 million fee — a fact that, combined with the much higher revenue potential of the Big East, makes a decision to stay in the Mountain West unlikely if a home can be found for their basketball and other sports.

This report comes shortly after Big East interim commissioner Joe Bailey said that he did not anticipate any changes in Boise State’s status.

“Well, my sense is that unless you hear differently, I think that there’s full commitment from their standpoint,” Bailey said on a Wednesday teleconference. “You can’t there’s an expectation market and then there’s the reality market. And the reality of it is that those schools have indicated, to my knowledge, to the executive committee and to the other members, that they have a big belief that the Big East is a really good partner for them.”

Head coach Andy Talley had loudly complained in interviews that the Big East build-up had affected his recruiting, because they got involved with players that were likely to get FBS offers in anticipation of the move. The truth is, however, that Villanova has always been involved with recruiting players at that level.

The Wildcats don’t take many transfers for football, so talent has to be developed or recruited to compete at the highest levels of FCS football — where most of their opponents will take on multiple transfer players from FBS programs every year. Instead, Villanova has to try and land players with that kind of talent on the first go-around.

Rising-sophomore, Jamal Abdur-Rahman had a BCS offer from Maryland coming out of La Salle High School in Philadelphia. Incoming freshman linebacker Corey Majors picked the Wildcats over offers from Pittsburgh and Temple. Both players had a chance to play for BCS conference schools, but opted for the small Catholic school on the Main Line.

Jones-Smith is a player that Villanova’s football coaches will hope to woo in much the same way, citing their recent successes on the field and with recently taking offensive tackle Ben Ijalana from obscurity to the second round of the NFL draft. The Wildcats have a pitch for any player that they might go after.

Jones-Smith has visited Virginia and Penn State in the past year, but is still fielding offers. His dream school is apparently Alabama, with Penn State also being near the top of his list. PSU has shown interest (albeit, under the previous administration), but has not yet offered and Alabama has not been involved at all.

That isn’t the only player Villanova got involved with on Thursday that has offers and interest from big-time FBS schools, either. Roman Catholic High School’s Will Fuller, a 6-1, 170 pound wide receiver was also offered by a coach from Villanova to be a member of their 2013 class. He also holds offers from Delaware and Toledo as well as Big East football schools, Rutgers and Temple.

Fuller is quickly rising up in recruiting circles, after recording 47 catch and 700 yards as a junior and running a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash at a recruiting combine. He also broke the Philadelphia high school record for single-game receiving with 10 catches for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns in a September game (a record that had stood since 1969). In addition to his offers, he has had interest from Penn State, Virginia, Michigan State, and UConn, and about 14 schools in all.

Villanova has to work harder to convince players like Fuller and Jones-Smith that the Main Line is the right place for them, but the Wildcats will always make an effort to get a foot in the door with these kids. Delaware does as well, but only in hopes that they will keep UDel in mind when they ultimately transfer down to FCS — Nova’s motives are different.

These kids might end up on the Main Line as transfers, but chances are that they won’t. When Villanova goes up against FBS heavyweights for a football prospect, they do so with the intention of landing the kid out of high school.

Does the fact that Nova is going after these super-talented prospects say anything about where Villanova football is heading? More likely, it speaks volumes about where the program has been.

Despite Talley’s indications otherwise, Villanova has always offered hot prospects, and especially local kids who know the Villanova brand. Oversigning, injuries and other factors can always land a oversized-talent for the FCS program. Sometimes though, the Wildcats don’t even need outside factors.

Abdur-Rahman committed to Villanova early, before his senior season was even played — despite his Maryland offer, the star running back just liked Nova better. The same was true for Corey Majors, who was so set on heading to Villanova that he stuck with his commitment after being told he would have to delay enrollment by a year and head to prep school.

So, the Wildcats will continue to recruit against the big boys, because nobody lands all of their recruits, but you can’t reel a kid in if you never try.

Notes from the recruiting trail:

• As we wrote earlier this Spring, Villanova basketball alum Reggie Herron’s son Justin is a 2014 football prospect getting serious interest. He has an offer from Nova already and he “always wanted to go there.”
• Coaches have expressed interest in Dayton Mohler, a 5-10, 160 pound WR/DB from Pottstown High School (PA). He is in the 2014 class and received Honorable Mention in the All-Pioneer Athletic Conference this year.
• Perkiomen High School (PA) running back, Rasaan Stewart also met with Nova coaches this week. Stewart is 6-0, 175 pounds and has played quarterback.
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida offensive lineman Zach Provin has also been hearing from the Wildcats. The 6-3, 265 pounder is a member of the class of 2013 and has a long list of schools showing interest at the moment.
• Thomas O’Brien, an offensive lineman from Midlothian, VA met with a Nova football coach recently.
• Bergenfield (NJ) High School running back and corner, Will Rodriguez is a very fast 5-10, 175 pound prospect for 2013 who has had contact with Villanova in the past week. He was First Team All-Bergen County and had 1831 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.
• Villanova invited Pete Halloran, a 6-3, 250 pound defensive end from Paul VI High School (NJ), to attend their summer football cam. Halloran is currently in the 2014 class and is willing to play tight end or offensive line as well.

According to Lenn Robins in the New York Post, a number of the remaining football members of the CAA are considering forming a new conference. The league would consist of, “programs poised to upgrade from FCS to FBS status,” according to Robbins. The move is being seriously discussed according to his sources, but could be expedited if the CAA continues to lose members to other conferences.

Delaware, New Hampshire and Richmond were named specifically in the report, but other CAA members would potentially be involved. It would be hard to believe JMU would be left behind in such a move. The schools have apparently had intense conversations on the matter recently and would seek out new partners to join them in forming the league.

The league itself would likely take on a new name, but could be a continuation of the CAA Football’s current corporate form, which is separate from the basketball and olympic sports conference. Those discussions may have been what league commissioner Tom Yeager was talking about in an April 10th statement regarding Georgia State’s decision to join the Sun Belt.

“Georgia State’s withdrawal from the CAA and CAA football is predicated on the university’s desire to reclassify to FBS football which requires membership in an FBS league,” Yeager said. “We’ve been aware that GSU was having discussions with the Sun Belt Conference as the CAA could not accommodate that desire within GSU’s time frame.”

The NCAA would potentially be a roadblock to turning that conference of FBS-aspirants into an FBS league. Bylaws of the association state that a conference must have 8 FBS football members to be a bona fide FBS conference, and that a school must have an invitation from a bona fide FBS conference in order to reclassify.

That leaves two options for the CAA: (1) Find 8 FBS schools that are willing to join the new conference, or (2) petition the NCAA for an exception or a change to the rules.

The seeming demise of the WAC will likely leave Idaho and maybe New Mexico State universities without a home for football. UMass also risks losing their place in the MAC if that conference decides to return to 12 members now that Temple has left them. If the new Eastern League were able to secure those three FBS schools, however, they would still be 5 members short of an FBS conference — so an NCAA petition would seem like the only choice.

That makes it unclear if this new league could even become an FBS conference. It could certainly become a football-first FCS league, but an NCAA approval to move so many FCS schools up a subdivision may not be easy to come by.

Villanova’s connection to these discussions is currently unknown. If the league were to form with Villanova, it could introduce complications with the school’s Big East membership in other sports. If the league were to form without Villanova, it could leave the Wildcats without a home for football.

It isn’t clear at this point whether Villanova has had any serious participation in these discussions, and Robbins didn’t specify which CAA members were involved. If Villanova has been involved, it has not likely reached a serious enough level to come up for board approval. The school also hasn’t studied the economic impact of making such a move at this point, and the board would need to produce new revenue and expense projections before making any decisions.

It would be highly-unlikely for Villanova to pursue any move that would require the school to also leave the Big East conference in other sports. The school would also not pursue any moves that would not be sufficiently supported by revenue streams or increased donations.

Update: Per HamptonRoads.com: “ODU and fellow CAA members Delaware and James Madison were approached at the Final Four last month about a possible move to C-USA, a source within the conference said.” Old Dominion remains undecided on whether to move conferences and reclassify to FBS.

Update 5/4: Delaware’s athletic director has denied that they were approached about joining C-USA, “That has not happened.” Delaware administrators are reportedly happy where they are, but might be prodded to make a move if their current situation in the CAA changes.

Coastal Carolina University, a state school in Conway, South Carolina, may be on the move from the Big South. Trustees there approved a motion this week to  grant “authority to the President to take all actions, including making all necessary budget adjustments, relating to Coastal Carolina University’s athletic conference alignment, including but not limited to withdrawing from its current conference and accepting an invitation to join a new conference. ” Speculation is that CCU could be considering a move to the CAA.

EDITORS NOTE:  The underlying article’s headline currently references a “basketball league.” Headlines are written by editors at newspapers, not by the writers, however, and they often do not fully sync with the underlying story. In this case, the story itself clearly notes that the new conference would consist of eastern FCS schools positioned or positioning for a move to FBS and does not claim that it would be a basketball-only league. It is in-fact implicit in the text of the article that the new league would sponsor football at some level.

Dave Fairbank of the Newport News, VA-based Daily Press has said that the Old Dominion move is not yet completed or imminent. It remains on the table, however, and discussions are underway, but HamptonRoads.com’s Ed Miller says that ODU is “not ready to make a decision on [C-USA] yet.” The Monarchs have spoken to “well over half” of the 31 Division I conferences at this point, according to their athletic director.

C-USA is pressuring the Virginia school to make a decision quickly and apparently ECU’s AD, Terry Holland is pushing both sides to consummate the arrangement. Other unnamed schools are also apparently in the mix as C-USA looks to bring its membership count to 14.

The two upstart football programs would join Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, and UT-San Antonio as reinforcements for the conference that was heavily raided by the Big East earlier this year. C-USA tried to work out a merger with the Mountain West, but recent reports suggest that that merger is off, which means that both conferences are left to their own resources to expand back to workable membership numbers — which could lead to the demise of the WAC.

It appears that the Old Dominion exit from the CAA is likely related to the belief that VCU and George Mason will also be leaving the conference to head to the Atlantic-10. That move would dramatically alter the basketball quality of the CAA. ODU has had aspirations of elevating their football program to the FBS level since starting the team a few years ago, but is willing to accelerate their move now that their current conference appears less stable and lucrative.

If the moves happen, it will drop CAA football membership to just 8 teams in 2013 and could signal further departures or instability.

Tom Yeager, the CAA commissioner, has reportedly been working with members on a plan to respond to the changes in conference membership. The loss of ODU further changes those plans. The inclusion of Charlotte in the C-USA expansion plans further clouds the CAA’s future, as the 49ers had been a potential CAA Football inclusion since they announced plans to start their program. Charlotte is reportedly prepared to announce a move

C-USA’s moves also affect Sun Belt membership and that conference is reportedly considering Appalachian State and Georgia Southern to join the conference now as well. Both are powerhouse FCS football programs that might have allowed the CAA to rebuild its ranks with some strong football schools.

The CAA has football members remaining in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Maine. The conference may look north for new members, where Stony Brook and Fordham offer full-scholarship football already and the Patriot League schools are moving toward a 60-scholarship limit. The NEC and Pioneer League also offer limited-scholarship football at Northeastern schools.

The CAA could also look south to the Southern Conference or Big South for teams as well. Liberty University has had a strong football program out of the Big South recently and may be interested in a move, but the conference may also be wary of their interest in FBS football and location in Virginia, which is already home to three conference teams.

In the SoCon, the CAA may still have enough football credibility to woo Appalachian State and Georgia Southern — if the Sun Belt doesn’t get them first. Davidson offers a solid basketball program, but their football program is currently at the non-scholarship Pioneer League level. Elon and Furman also have had some football success in the SoCon, but both are smaller private schools.

Soph. WR Lawrence Livers says goodbye

It started with basketball. Prior to the 2010-11 season, Villanova’s basketball team was told to get off of the popular social networking site, Twitter, as well as Facebook and other platforms until their season was over. Players disabled, abandoned and deleted their accounts. When head coach Jay Wright finally joined the social media age in late 2011, he too swore it off from the start of their preseason training until after the final game was played in March.

“It was nothing that our players did,” Wright explained of the policy. “It was more that people on websites were picking up just normal banter between the players and making issues out of things.”

Now, the football program is in on the act. Players were informed today that they would be required to disable their Twitter accounts, effective immediately. VUhoops has reached out to Andy Talley for comment on the matter, but the program is currently in the middle of an intensive recruiting period. It does appear that Talley has ultimately made the call to institute the policy. An email was sent out announcing the policy change to the team.

Unlike the basketball policy, the football coaches do not appear to be banished from Social Networking. At least one offensive assistant has tweeted since the policy went into effect for players.

The football policy is also different in that it appears to be in effect during the off-season. There may be some strategy to that, however, as the players have been prone to mention injuries and other information on Twitter that coaches would prefer to stay confidential. The extent of wide receiver Norm White’s injury was apparent during last summer’s preseason workouts, based on tweets by White and his teammates, well before it was announced by the school that he would redshirt. This spring, Dan Shirey’s achilles injury was first noted on the popular site, when the Senior lineman posted pictures of a scooter he had to use to get around campus.

While the basketball team instituted the school’s first-known social media policy, the athletics department generally has been concerned with the athletes’ use of these sites. Along with Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas, the Wildcats obtained the services of VarsityMonitor to check in on student-athletes’ use of the sites and report back to compliance and coaches when a potentially damaging posting is discovered.

All of Villanova’s varsity athletes were sent an email in January, telling them to add the service as a “friend” on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. That would allow the company to see anything that they post online and help the school to “develop and enforce fair and effective social media policies.”

It was an unpopular move at the time, but less strict than a complete ban.

The use of VarsityMonitor is the only athletics department-wide policy that has been instituted at Villanova, but coaches are free to institute their own rules and regulations on the matter.

“Each coaching staff is responsible for their own set of rules and regulations,” explains Villanova spokesman Dean Kenefick. “They would not need Athletic Department approval to implement this type of team rule.”