VILLANOVA, Pa.—In the final game of the 2023 regular season No. 10 Villanova (8-2, 6-1 CAA Football) meets its rival No. 7 Delaware (8-2, 6-1 CAA Football) at Delaware Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The contest will be the 17
th since the annual meeting between the teams started to be billed as the "Battle of the Blue." Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game can be seen live on NBC Sports Philadelphia as well as FloFootball. The radio call with Ryan Fannon and Kevin Reilly can be found on the iHeart radio app.
CATCHING UP WITH THE 'CATS
Villanova has won five straight games and is coming off a 33-10 win over Towson in its regular season home finale last week. Each of the Wildcats eight wins this season have come by a dozen or more points and their average margin of victory during the current winning streak is 22.8 points. The streak began with a 37-14 win at North Carolina A&T on October 7 and has grown to include victories over Elon (21-0), Stony Brook (48-13), New Hampshire (45-33) and Towson (33-10).
CROWDED AT THE TOP
There is a four-way tie for first place in the CAA Football standings entering the final weekend of the regular season. Each of the teams that has a 6-1 record in conference play this year – Villanova, Delaware, Richmond and UAlbany – still has a chance to be the outright conference champion and/or earn the league's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs which begin later this month.
Given the logjam at the top of the CAA Football standings, there are numerous tiebreaking scenarios that could come into play based on the outcome of games played this weekend. The three biggest games to watch are the Villanova-Delaware contest along with Richmond visiting William & Mary and UAlbany hosting Monmouth.
TIEBREAKING SCENARIOS FOR THE CAA FOOTBALL AUTOMATIC BID
If UAlbany, Richmond and Villanova finished tied for first at 7-1: There were not head-to-head meetings between all three teams. All three teams faced Rhode Island and Stony Brook and all three teams were 1-0 against them. The next tiebreaker is point differential in conference games with a 21-point maximum per game differential. Heading into this Saturday's games, Villanova is +96, UAlbany is +92 and Richmond is +58.
If UAlbany and Villanova finish tied for first at 7-1: UAlbany defeated Villanova in the head-to-head meeting, giving UAlbany the tiebreaker and the automatic bid.
If Richmond and Villanova finish tied for first at 7-1: There was not a head-to-head meeting between Richmond and Villanova. Both teams had wins over common opponents Rhode Island, Elon, North Carolina A&T and Stony Brook. The next tiebreaker is point differential in conference games with a 21-point maximum per game differential. Heading into this Saturday's games, Villanova is +96 and Richmond is +58.
Should the point differential finish in a tie, the next tiebreaker would be the best combined conference ranking among the teams in points scored and points allowed.
HIGHEST WINNING PERCENTAGE BY CURRANT CAA FOOTBALL TEAMS (2019-23)
Villanova (35-16, .686)
Delaware (33-21, .611)
Monmouth (30-20, .600)
Richmond (30-20, .600)
William & Mary (28-21, 571)
HIGHEST WINNING PERCENTAGE BY CURRANT CAA FOOTBALL TEAMS (2014-23)
North Carolina A&T (72-32, .692)
Villanova (71-40, .640)
Richmond (69-45, .605)
Monmouth (62-44, .585)
New Hampshire (63-47, .573)
BATTLE OF THE BLUE
The annual game between the Wildcats and Delaware took on the moniker "Battle of the Blue" starting in 2007. Villanova has won 14 of the 16 meetings since then, including a come-from-behind 29-26 victory at Villanova Stadium last season. The winner of each year's contest is presented with the Battle of the Blue Trophy, which the Wildcats have retained in 10 of the past 11 meetings in the series.
Dating back to 2012, the only time Villanova has been defeated by the Blue Hens was during the abbreviated Spring 2021 season when Delaware tallied a 27-20 decision. The Wildcats eight-game winning streak against Delaware from 2012-19 is the longest by either team since the all-time series began in 1895. Villanova head coach
Mark Ferrante is 5-1 in "Battle of the Blue" games.
SERIES STUFF
Villanova leads the all-time series with Delaware by a 33-22-1 margin and has won 15 of the last 17 meetings in the series. The teams first played each other in consecutive seasons in 1895 and 1896, then met just twice over the next 67 years. Beginning in 1964, there has been a Villanova-Delaware game in all but one year that the Wildcats have played a football season. The lone exception was 1985 when Villanova reinstated football following a four-year absence.
The Wildcats all-time record of 33-22-1 in the series includes 17 home wins (17-12) and 16 road wins (16-10-1). Two of Villanova's home games in the series were played at Subaru Park (formerly PPL Park and Talen Energy Stadium) which is the home of the MLS Philadelphia Union. Delaware tallied a 26-16 win there in 2011, while in 2013 the Wildcats rallied from a 22-point deficit in the final 8:01 to tally a memorable 35-34 victory.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
Delaware is the only opponent that Villanova has ever played more than 50 times. Entering this year's edition of the all-time series the Wildcats have played more games (56) and tallied more wins (33) versus the Blue Hens than any other opponent it has ever faced. The second most common opponent in Villanova history is Boston College (45 games) and the second-highest win total against an opponent is 25 wins over Richmond.
Villanova and Delaware enter today's game with identical records of 8-2 overall and 6-1 in CAA Football action. It is the first time since 2006 when each team was 5-5 that they will face each other with the same record. That excludes 2015 when there was a rare early-season meeting and both squads were 1-1 on the year. Entering play on Saturday the Wildcats and Blue Hens – along with Richmond and UAlbany – are in a four-way tie for first place in the CAA standings.
Villanova has won eight consecutive games at Delaware Stadium in a streak that began with a 28-27 victory to close out the 2006 season. The winning streak also includes games in Newark, Del. in 2008 (21-7), 2010 (28-21, ot), 2012 (41-10), 2014 (35-28), 2016 (41-10), 2018 (42-21) and 2021 (21-13).
