Is the ACC more popular right now than it's ever been? Kinda seems like it, with the Syracuse Orange and Pittsburgh Panthers finding safe harbor in the conference realignment storm and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights among the many programs looking to reserve a spot, along with the Connecticut Huskies.
Let's add the Villanova Wildcats to that list, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel that confirms news first reported by VUHoops and The Nova Blog. To say Nova is a longshot here ... well, let's not be mean to Villanova, which currently fields a Division I-AA football program that was turned down by the Big East earlier this year.
Nova's best chance would be if the ACC decides to start adding non-football members in an attempt to coerce the Notre Dame Fighting Irish into joining. Or, as Boston College blog BC Interruption hypothesizes, the ACC could add Nova and a school like Georgetown to lock down northeastern hoops and finish off the Big East (I'm not happy about it, but that's what's happening) without clogging up the football schedule any more than it already is because Wake Forest and Duke are on it.
For more on the Wildcats, head to Villanova blog The Nova Blog. It has a pretty clear name.