Filed under: Big East

Those clamoring that the Big East needs to be proactive in expanding its football conference will be happy to hear the league has an open offer to Villanova, Big East sources told FanHouse.

The Philadelphia Daily News first reported VU athletic director Vince Nicastro as saying the league will conduct an evaluation to determine if the school, which competes in the FCS division, will move up to the FBS level to join the Big East. Villanova already is a member of the Big East Conference in its other sports.

“The Big East very recently communicated its interest in adding Villanova as a football member,” Nicastro told the Daily News. “As a result, we have decided to embark on an in-depth evaluation of this opportunity.

“As you might suspect, this is a complex issue, which entails many dimensions — both quantitative and qualitative. While we will move forward on this as quickly as possible, it is critical that all of those dimensions are vetted thoroughly prior to making any final decision.”

In April, FanHouse reported league sources as saying they were interested in adding Villanova, the defending FCS national champions, to the Big East in football.

The Daily News reported Villanova has informally looked into many of the factors involved in making the jump to an FBS member, but now will “officially start the due-diligence process.”

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