A Season in Purgatory: Villanova and Life in College Football’s Lower Class

At a school where basketball is king, the Villanova football team battles opponents both on and off the field. Low on cash and recruiting power, the Division I-AA Wildcats must constantly justify their existence to a prestigious academic institution and the students and alumni who bemoan the team’s ＂minor league＂ status. This story of Villanova’s 2005 season is an inside account of a football program wading through the political mire to bring glory to a school largely indifferent to its efforts. Through the Wildcats’ experience, Tony Moss explores the inner workings of college football, particularly the chasm between Division I-A, home of the most visible, successful programs, and Division I-AA, where crowds are smaller but competition is just as intense. As alumni and faculty question the cost of funding sixty-three football scholarships and a full-time coaching staff, Moss leaves us to decide whether the struggle is worth the cost to schools outside the spotlight and whether the game has any inherent value apart from the bottom line.

Tony Moss is NFL editor and columnist for The Sports Network, a wire service in suburban Philadelphia. His writing appears regularly on Web sites of newspapers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Boston Globe, the Charlotte Observer, and the Miami Herald. He has been a weekly guest on ESPN Radio’s V Show with Bob Valvano.