By Julian Benbow, Globe staff

Villanova coach Jay Wright called Boston a "split town" when it comes to Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East allegiance, and there are talks between his school and BC that could test that loyalty as early as next season.

BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo recently phoned Villanova AD Vince Nicastro to go over the idea of the two schools’ basketball teams scheduling each other for the coming year.

“I told him I thought we ought to play and he agreed with it," DiFilippo said. "That’s where it’s at. There’s been nothing formalized or anything, but at some point we’d like to play.”

DeFilippo was the head of Villanova athletics from 1993 to 1997. During that span Nicastro was his assistant. DeFilippo acknowledged mutual interests at work to set up a possible game next season, from renewing a Big East rivalry to pooling alumni fan bases in both regions.

Wright acknowledged the benefits.

“Their reason: Coming down to Philly, TV. Our reason: Coming back up here where we have a lot of alumni,” he said after his team’s workout at TD Banknorth Garden.

“When this season’s over we’ll make a decision on that, and it’ll probably be for a TV game. We’ve got to see where we can work it out.”