August 28, 1998

VILLANOVA, Pa. - In the Sports Illustrated College Football Preview, the Villanova Wildcats are ranked No. 2 in the I-AA top 25 poll. McNeese State earned the top spot in the poll. The top five included No. 3 Georgia Southern, Montana at No. 4 and Delaware at No. 5.

Villanova is coming off a 12-1 campaign in 1997 where they advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals. During last year's regular season, Villanova tallied the first undefeated, untied, full season in school history at 11-0, including an 8-0 mark in Atlantic 10 Conference play. For the last six weeks of the 1997 season, Villanova was ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in school history.

Under the direction of 14th year head coach Andy Talley, Villanova kickoffs the 1998 season at Big East member Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 3:30 p.m. Villanova opens the home portion of its schedule on Saturday, Sept. 12 against arch rival Delaware.