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

by Tony Moss

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.

Genres: Sports, Football

333 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

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Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already knew Tony Moss' writing from the Sports Network while following 1-AA football for the last 11 years. I was always a big fan of his and this book had come to my attention sometime last year. Not only does it deal with what football is like at the "second-class citizen" schools of what is now FCS football, but it also deals with Villanova. This is an excellent read on the realities of FCS football. The book goes into the politics of football at Villanova, a basketball school where football is all but ignored, how schools like this recruit 1-A castoffs, the inner workings of the team, and more. I highly recommend it to any football fan and especially a fan of one of the many other FCS football schools.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best books about college football and college sports that I have read.