By TERRY TOOHEY
230terry@gmail.com

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The snow storm bearing down on Philadelphia forced Villanova to change its travel plans.

The Wildcats originally were scheduled to leave Chattanooga by charter around 10 a.m., but that flight was moved up to 8 a.m. in an attempt to beat the weather. The team is expected to arrive at Philadelphia International Airport around 10 and be back on campus roughly an hour later.

Weather permitting, of course.

However, with the fall semester over, there will be no welcome home celebration. Athletic department officials said the team will be honored at a later date.

Speaking of crazy schedules, Fr. Rob Hagan, the team chaplain, and associate athletic director Bob Steitz drove to Atlanta after the game in order to catch a flight today for Newark, N.J. to be at the Izod Center for the men’s basketball game against Fordham.

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Villanova long snapper Will Thompson was the inaugural winner of the NCAA’s Elite 88 academic award for the FCS playoffs.

The Elite 88 Award recognizes the top student in each of the NCAA’s 88 national tournaments. Thompson, a senior, has a 3.97 grade-point-average in accounting.

“It is kind of ironic that my first football award as a senior would be for academics,” Thompson said. “As a long snapper, we don’t typically get noticed a lot, so it is a great honor for me to receive this award. I am very thankful to my teammates, coaches and family for their support in helping me win this award.”

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If Villanova makes it to the FCS championship game next season, they may not be playing in Chattanooga.

The Wildcats could be going to Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.

The Scenic City, as Chattanooga is called, has been the host for the last 13 FCS championship games. However, the city’s contract with the NCAA to host the final ended Friday night. Chattanooga and Frisco were selected as the finalist from a pool of cities that included Spokane, Wash., Little Rock, Ark., and Missoula, Mont., the home of the University of Montana.

The NCAA will announce its choice in February.

Chattanooga took over as the host city from Huntingdon, W.Va. in 1997. Huntingdon, the home of Marshall University, hosted the championship from 1992-96.

The 16-team tournament will expand to 20 teams in 2010. The top 12 teams will receive byes in the first round. The championship game will be in early January, 2011.

Villanova and Montana combined to sell roughly 3,700 tickets as of Thursday morning, the lowest total for participating teams in the 13 years the game has been held in Chattanooga, Smith said. Villanova sold approximately 1,200 tickets and Montana about 2,500.