Big East Expansion: Villanova Needs 11,500 Seats ASAP

Now that we're a few days removed from VillanovaJoin BigEastVoteGate, we've learned a couple specifics.

1. This is all about the stadium. Solve that issue and Villanova is in.

2. Pitt, Rutgers and West Virginia are officially against Villanova joining, though that related back to No. 1.

So where does Villanova go from here?

They can come to a concrete, signed, sealed and delivered deal with PPL Park to expand the stadium to 30K.

On The Banks just isn't convinced that's going to happen. And even if it does, will it lead to some resentment across the league:

If that account is correct, then there are two main issues at hand: is Villanova willing to commit to stadium expansion, and even then would a 30,000 seat venue be enough? The latter is sketchy. How do you think UConn feels about the fact that they had to spend a fortune getting up to par? Would they be happy with Villanova receiving special treatment? Villanova had their chance when UConn moved up. They've been on notice with this for months. Any possible stadium related issues should not have come as a surprise. As the article notes, the football teams have all the leverage here after adding TCU, and have no need to settle.

I wouldn't have thought so a few days ago but things are starting to look a little iffy for Villanova. It all comes down to the stadium and the chances of getting a guaranteed expansion sorted out in a couple days is slim at best.

Of course, just because Villanova wouldn't get in, that doesn't mean we just up and move on to the next contestant. That's not stopping the UCF folks from making themselves heard (and throwing Villanova directly under the bus to boot):

Even the brainless should be able to see that adding UCF to your league is a no-brainer. You're talking about the second-largest university in the nation; a university smack dab in the middle of a college football state and recruiting hotbed; a university in a top 20 TV market; a university that already has a built-in rivalry with Big East foe USF, which is located in a nearby but separate top 20 TV market; a university that has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in not only building an up-and-coming football program but in building a big-time athletic program.

As you can imagine, Villanova fans and USF fans have some very specific reactions to the piece. Meanwhile, Pitt Blather tells you everything you need to know about why the Big East is letting UCF sweat it out. Because they can. The SEC and ACC aren't calling anytime soon.

And of course, there's the wholly other issue that's reared its ugly head. The Conference Split dilemma. It's still conjecture but that conjecture is growing louder. It sounds crazy but, hey, it's a time for crazy things in college athletics. If enough schools end up pissed off by the final Villanova decision, who knows.

Let the inter-conference hate flow on...