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The school's current mascot is the Wildcat, although previous school mascots included the "Day Hops" and the "Pelicans". Sports teams participate in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big East Conference, except for football, which plays as part of Division I-AA's Atlantic Ten Conference. The Wildcats are also part of the Philadelphia Big 5, the traditional Philadelphia-area basketball rivalry.
Villanova is a member of the Big East Conference, and is also a member of the informal league of Philadelphia-area schools known as the Big Five, along with Penn, Temple, St. Joseph's and LaSalle. Situated on the Main Line, Villanova is the only one of the five technically outside of the city limits. As of the conclusion of the 2006 college basketball season, however, they remain the last Philadelphia-based sports team to win a major championship of any kind. (Among major league teams, the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers have that dubious distinction.
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