MORGANTOWN - The issue of Villanova football and the Big East Conference is not dead, but it appears now to be hooked to a life-support system that could be unplugged at any moment.

When Villanova announced Monday that its Board of Trustees would not hold a scheduled vote on the matter at its Tuesday meeting, it was a clear signal that the school had received the message from the Big East that acceptance into the football side of the league was far from a done deal.

And the message appears to be quite simple: Find a more suitable place to play or the invitation is off.

"I think it was clear to everyone in the conference that at some point very soon Villanova was going to wind up hosting an important game late in the season,'' one league source said. "Imagine that a nationally ranked, perhaps unbeaten team plays Villanova on the road in November and the game is on national TV. And it's in an 18,000-seat soccer stadium.''

Big East officials won't comment on the matter and have instructed school representatives to refer all inquiries to the league. So no one is willing to speak on the record.

But two sources on Tuesday gave virtually the same account, which is that the stadium issue is the only reason the conference is reluctant to turn the informal invitation for Villanova to join that it made in September into a formal solicitation.

"From a football perspective, I don't think anyone doubts that if they commit the resources, that Villanova can't follow the Connecticut and South Florida models and move up quickly,'' one source said. "I don't think anyone is looking at Villanova and saying they can't do it on the field. But the stadium issue just won't go away.''

Villanova presently fields a football team in the FCS division and has fared very well of late. The Wildcats won the 2009 national championship and lost to the eventual national titlist in last year's semifinals.

But the school plays its games in a small on-campus stadium and its initial proposal for a larger venue to accommodate FBS games and crowds is 18,500-seat PPL Park, a soccer stadium 10 miles away in Chester, Pa. The school rightly notes that PPL Park is designed to be expanded to as much as 30,000 seats, but that would still be among the smallest in the country and the smallest of any school in a BCS automatic-qualifying conference.

"You can say that the stadium can be expanded, but the fact of the matter is it's not their stadium,'' a source said. "There's a reason those soccer teams are building 20,000-seat stadiums. That's what they expect to be drawing for the next 10 or 20 years.''

PPL Park is operated by the Philadelphia Union, an MLS soccer club. Union CEO and managing partner Nick Sakiewicz told the Philadelphia Daily News that expansion has always been an option.

"We designed the stadium for expansion and it has been something that we have been discussing,'' Sakiewicz said. "Villanova could feasibly accelerate those plans as another tenant in the building.''

The fact that the stadium can be expanded and that the soccer club says it is an option, however, is apparently not enough for the Big East to pull the trigger and extend a formal invitation.

"We're talking about a decision that is going to have ramifications for decades,'' a league source said. " 'We might' or 'We could' is not the same as 'We will.'''

Still, the issue is not completely dead, although it is squarely in Villanova's court now. That was thought to be the case all along until the stadium issue reared its head. And that was probably true. The Big East was more than willing to extend a formal invitation, provided Villanova was willing and had an acceptable plan in place.

"All along the [informal] invitation was contingent upon Villanova not only wanting to do this, but being able to do it to the league's standards,'' the league source said. "I think it's still a possibility, but there have to be some assurances made that [Villanova] is going to be up to it in every aspect, including the venue.''

The seemingly logical alternative is the Philadelphia Eagles stadium, Lincoln Financial Field. But there are concerns there on several levels, not the least of which is that it is at least 30 minutes away from Villanova's campus and the school has never shown an ability to draw there. When Villanova and Temple played there a year ago, a crowd of just over 32,000 was predominantly made up of Temple fans.

And, in fact, drawing crowds to Villanova games anywhere has been problematic. At a 12,000-seat on-campus stadium, the Wildcats fairly consistently average not much more than half of capacity. The argument there, of course, is that bigger, more important games will draw larger crowds.

The other issue with Lincoln Financial Field is that Temple has a lease to use the facility for at least seven more years and perhaps beyond that. The lease apparently grants Temple exclusive use of the facility on Saturdays during the football season.

"The only thing I know about leases is that they can usually be broken or modified,'' one source said. "I'm not sure if Villanova needs to do that or even wants to try, but it's an option.''

There are, apparently, options enough that the Big East has not closed the door on Villanova joining in football. But the league has clearly drawn a line in the sand regarding assurances that the school will find an appropriate venue.

If Villanova elects to withdraw from consideration, the Big East is apparently in no rush to find a 10th member to go along with TCU, which joins the league in 2012 (Villanova would not likely become a full member until 2014 anyway).

"I don't think anyone is in favor of adding just to be adding or to reach a number,'' a source said. "The usual suspects are all out there - East Carolina, Central Florida, Houston, Army and Navy, maybe even Air Force. But until someone proves that adds real value, I don't think there's a rush.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.