Philadelphia Big 5

Philadelphia Big 5

Philadelphia Big 5
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1955
No. of teams	6
Country	United States
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Most recent champion(s)	Saint Joseph's (21st title)
Most titles	Villanova (29)
Related competitions	A-10, AAC, Big East, City 6, CAA and Ivy League basketball
Official website	www.philadelphiabig5.org

5km
3miles

Drexel

Penn

Saint Joseph's

La Salle

Temple

Villanova

  

Locations in the Greater Philadelphia Area

The Big 5 is an informal association of six college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’s collegiate championship.

The Big 5 originally consisted of the University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University, Saint Joseph's University, Temple University, and Villanova University. At the start of the 2023–24 season, the Big 5 expanded to include Drexel University.^[1] Drexel, La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's, and Temple are located in Philadelphia proper and Villanova is in a nearby Main Line suburb. Three of the six schools (La Salle, Saint Joseph's and Villanova) are Catholic while Temple is the only public university in the Big 5.

Until 2023, the five teams played each other in a round-robin format to determine the Big 5 champion. After the addition of Drexel, the format was changed, and the six teams were split into two pods, with all of the teams participating in a same-day, triple-header showcase event on the first Saturday in December. The winner of the first-place game during the showcase, which features the winners of each pod, determines the Big 5 champion for the season.

Big 5 schools represent some of the oldest and most successful men's basketball programs in the nation. Three of the six teams—Temple (7th), Villanova (19th), and Penn (22nd)—are in the top-50 for all-time Division I basketball victories. From 1977 to 2022, at least one team from the Big 5 made it to the NCAA Tournament.

Each year the Herb Good Basketball Club selects All-Big 5 teams, as well as a coach of the year, and the most outstanding player in Big 5 competition receives the Robert V. Geasey Trophy.

The Big 5 creed reads: "They say there's no trophy for winning the Big Five. They must not be from Philadelphia."

The Big 5 was formed in 1955 a year after La Salle won the 1954 NCAA basketball tournament. The group showcased Philadelphia's basketball talent and helped pay for the upkeep on the Palestra, on the University of Pennsylvania's campus where the games historically took place. Games were scheduled as double or triple-headers. All schools agreed to split ticket and concessions revenues equally once Penn was paid for upkeep costs on the Palestra. The arrangement promoted already intense intra-city collegiate basketball rivalries dating back three decades or more.^[2]

During the heyday of the Big 5, many major college programs, especially in the northeastern United States, were independents. As the Big East and Atlantic 10 conferences expanded to cover most of the Northeast (Villanova joined the Big East, while Temple, Saint Joseph's, and La Salle joined the Atlantic 10; Penn is a member of the Ivy League), and as college basketball became increasingly driven by television and its need to appeal to a broad national audience, the local character of the Big 5 became a liability. The round-robin series ended in 1991.

In 1999, the Big 5 round-robin series was revived and continued until the 2022–23 season. However, the revival resulted in some changes, as the schools would no longer evenly split the proceeds from the games, and the Palestra was no longer used for every game in the series.

The Big 5 formed intense rivalries among some of the schools. The most notable is the rivalry between Saint Joseph's and Villanova, also known as the Holy War. The rivalry is influenced by the two schools' Catholic affiliations, with Saint Joseph's being a Jesuit university, and Villanova being Augustinian.

The rivalry between Saint Joseph's and Temple saw increased tension in the 2000s after an incident known as "Goon Gate". In a 2005 matchup between the two schools, Hall of Fame Temple head coach John Chaney, who was frustrated with the officiating in the game, ordered his players to intentionally foul Saint Joseph's forward John Bryant, a move that Chaney described as sending in "the goons". Bryant fractured his arm as a result of the fouling, drawing anger from many Saint Joseph's fans, and Chaney's actions were seen as highly unsportsmanlike. Chaney would serve a suspension for the remainder of the season as a result of the incident.^[3]

Following Villanova's national championships in 2016 and 2018, a debate has emerged among Philadelphia sports fans about whether Villanova should be classified as a "Philly school." Fans of other Big 5 schools contend that Villanova does not qualify because its campus is outside Philadelphia's city limits. In contrast, Villanova fans argue that because the team plays select home games are at the Wells Fargo Center, and that their championship parades in both 2016 and 2018 were held in Center City Philadelphia, the school has a clear connection to the city.^[4][5]

Throughout the Big 5's existence, some suggested adding Drexel. Drexel is a member of the City 6, which is an intra-city intramural competition among the six schools. These talks amplified during the 2006–07 season, as Drexel beat three of the four Big 5 teams it played, but no changes were made.^[6]

In December 2022, The Athletic reported that administrators at the Big 5 schools and Drexel were discussing "trying to find a way to resuscitate the Big 5."^[7] The meetings came after a sparsely attended Big 5 doubleheader at the Palestra.^[7] According to The Athletic, talks about reforms to the Big 5 began prior to the doubleheader as school administrators felt there was a decline in the series due to Villanova's recent dominance and many of the top local recruits opting not to play college basketball in Philadelphia.^[7]

The Big 5 announced in January 2023 a new format for Big 5 competition, which would include the addition of Drexel as a member of the series.^[1] In the new format, the six teams are split into two three-team pods, who play each other in November. On the first Saturday in December, the "Big 5 Classic", a triple-header showcase event is held with a fifth place, third place, and championship game all taking place at the Wells Fargo Center.^[1] Some criticized the move as it eliminated the full round-robin nature of the Big 5 and games would no longer be primarily played at the Palestra.^[1]

In June 2024, the athletic directors of the Big 5 member schools introduced the Women's Big 5 Classic, which, like the men's showcase, will be a same-day, triple-header event held on the day before the men's edition of the showcase. The first Women's Big 5 Classic is scheduled to be held on Friday, December 6, 2024 at the Finneran Pavilion.^[8]

From 1955–56 to 1990–91, and again from 1999–00 to 2022–23, all Big 5 men's basketball teams played each other once per season for a total of four games per team. Following the addition of Drexel and the creation of the Big 5 Classic in 2023, the six teams were split into two pods of three, where each team plays the two other teams in their pod. In the Big 5 Classic, each team then plays the team that finished in the same place as they did in the other pod, amounting to a total of three games per team.^[a] Since 1956, there have been three instances of a five-way tie among all member schools, which occurred in 1980–81 (2–2 records), 1991–92 (1–1 records), and 1997–98 (1–1 records), though the latter two cases were during the period when there was no round-robin format, so not every team played all four other teams.

Asterisk (*) denotes season when the round-robin series was not played.

• Bold denotes outright championship
• Asterisk (*) denotes all five schools tied

Through the 2022–23 season, Big 5 women's basketball teams played each other once per season for a total of four games per team. Currently La Salle and Saint Joseph's meet twice per season as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. If two or more Big 5 teams do share a conference, the second matchup between the schools is counted toward the Big 5 standings while the first matchup is not. Before 2023–24, there was no season-ending Big 5 Tournament, so a "champion" of the unofficial athletics group was determined by a round-robin tournament. Since 1979 there have been four instances of a three-way tie among all member schools and four instances of a two-way tie. Due to COVID-19 the complete round robin tournament was not contested in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons.

When Drexel was officially added to the rivalry in 2023, women's basketball formally became part of the Big 5 structure. Unlike the men's version, no women's games will be played at the Wells Fargo Center.^[11]

Although known primarily of an association of Philadelphia sports teams, students from the Big 5 also coordinate frequent student government meetings.^[12] The governments consist of La Salle, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple, Saint Joseph's, and Drexel. Prior to Drexel's admission to the Big 5, the school would be represented instead of Villanova because meetings primarily revolve around Philadelphia issues. Villanova is the only Big 5 college not located in the city.

• Official website