Villanova is making a football move out of the CAA to the Patriot League beginning with the 2026-27 academic year. The Wildcats are the third team to leave the CAA for the Patriot League since May 2024, following Richmond and William & Mary.
The Patriot League will consist of 10 teams: Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Richmond, Villanova, and William & Mary starting in 2026, assuming no further membership changes. As a result, the Patriot League will have a 9-game round robin schedule. Villanova will begin its final CAA season on Saturday, September 6, against future Patriot League opponent Colgate. They’ll open CAA play two weeks later at Monmouth on Saturday, September 20.
The Patriot League adds another program with a solid FCS Playoff pedigree as the Wildcats have 15 all-time appearances and a record of 14-14. The Wildcats clawed to the top of the FCS summit in 2009 when they won the first and only FCS National Championship in program history. Since 2008, Villanova has made 9 FCS playoff appearances, reaching the quarterfinals 6 times and the semifinals twice.
Villanova has a long history in college football dating back to its first season in 1894. The team participated at the highest level, including Division I-A (now FBS) independent status from 1978 through 1980. The program shut down for 4 seasons from 1981 through 1984 with Villanova administrators citing poor attendance as the culprit. The program returned as a Division III independent for the 1985 and 1986 seasons before returning to Division I-AA (now FCS) as an independent in 1987. The Wildcats joined the Yankee Conference in 1988, which later became the Atlantic 10 in 1997. In 2007, the CAA took over the A10’s football membership, which is where Villanova has had its best success in the FCS to date.
The CAA has seen a steady outflow of top teams over the past few years. James Madison left in 2022 to join the FBS, Delaware is leaving in 2025 to join C-USA, Richmond is joining the Patriot League in 2025, and Villanova will join in 2026 along with William & Mary. JMU made the playoffs in its final three seasons in the FCS, Delaware made it twice and was ineligible for the final season in 2024, and Richmond also made it the final three times as a member of the CAA. Villanova made the FCS playoffs in 2023 and 2024 while posting a winning record in four straight seasons. William & Mary hasn’t made the FCS Playoff since 2022 but has posted a winning record in each of the last four seasons.
To offset the loss of James Madison and get ahead of additional moves, the CAA added Hampton and Monmouth in 2022, Campbell and North Carolina A&T in 2023, and Bryant in 2024. The combined record of those five teams since joining the CAA is 41-85 overall and 21-67 in CAA games, with no team posting a winning record. The CAA will be down to 12 teams in 2026: Albany, Bryant, Campbell, Elon, Hampton, Maine, Monmouth, New Hampshire, North Carolina A&T, Rhode Island, Stony Brook, and Towson.
Photo Credit to Villanova University Athletics
