By AARON BRACY
June 6, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
VILLANOVA, Pa. – Seventy years ago, athletic directors from La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph’s, Temple and Villanova conceived a great idea by bringing together the five schools in a basketball round-robin format. The Big 5 was born. It didn’t take long for this unique partnership to become one of the best traditions in college basketball.
Two years ago, the Big 5 was on life support. To say the Big 5 was an afterthought would be being kind. No one was talking about the Big 5, fewer were attending games and the whole thing, sadly, seemed like it had run its course.
And then some innovation happened. The athletic directors of the five schools met and decided on several changes for the 2023-24 season, welcoming Drexel into the fold, replacing the round-robin format with two three-team pods that culminated with a Big 5 Classic tripleheader at the Wells Fargo Center. The inaugural event produced three exciting games, with Saint Joseph’s defeating Temple in the title game and getting a banner raised to the WFC rafters.
The Big 5 was saved.
On Thursday, the Big 5 came back in a big way.
Not quite like before. Times have changed. There are more things pulling at people’s attention. It’s unlikely that 8,722 fans will squeeze into a steamy Palestra on a freezing winter Saturday night for a Big 5 doubleheader. So, the Big 5 might not be back exactly like days of old.
But the Big 5 is back as far as importance, as far as buzz, as far as staying power in the city.
There were three major announcements on Thursday in a well-orchestrated press conference at Villanova:
1) Just like with the men last season, the women’s Big 5 welcomed Drexel into the fold and shifted to two three-team pods that will culminate with a Big 5 Classic tripleheader at Villanova on Friday, Dec. 6.
2) The Wells Fargo Center and the Big 5 announced a three-year deal to bring the men’s Big 5 Classic back there for each of the next three seasons, beginning this season with the tripleheader on Saturday, Dec. 7.
3) Comcast Spectacor chairman and chief executive officer Dan Hilferty was named ambassador for the Big 5.
All three announcements give the Big 5 important staying power at a time when college basketball and college sports, in general, are in great flux.
For the Drexel women, the new format is an opportunity to continue the program’s own success, as the lone school in Philadelphia to make the NCAA tournament last season, while following in the footsteps of the Dragons’ men’s program in 2023-24. Last season, Zach Spiker’s squad upset then-No. 18 Villanova in the Big 5 Classic fifth-place game, and Spiker went on to be named Big 5 Coach of the Year in Drexel’s first season in the Big 5.
“It doesn’t matter how many games you’ve won or lost, that game is going to matter,” Mallon told Big5Hoops.com of Big 5 contests. “I’m excited. It gives us the opportunity to compete for another title.”
Drexel athletic director Maisha Kelly saw what the men’s participation in the Big 5 did for the school, bringing excitement to the student body and the program and is glad Mallon’s squad also will have the chance.
“It’s a special opportunity,” Kelly told Big5Hoops.com. “I’m excited for our student-athletes and our coaches. It’s another championship we get to battle for.”
Like the men in 2023-24, the women’s pods will feature Drexel, La Salle and Temple on one side and Penn, Saint Joseph’s and Villanova on the other. The winners of each pod will meet in the title game. The men will follow the same format again this season, with the pods rotating every two years after this season.
After playing the women’s Classic at Villanova this season, it will move to different sites, likely to other campuses as reported on Thursday by Big5Hoops.com content partner Mel Greenberg, in subsequent seasons. Meantime, the men’s Classic will be staying put at the WFC for the next three seasons, something that is mutually beneficial for both parties considering the WFC will be hosting the 2026 first and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Having the men’s Classic in the same spot for three consecutive seasons is going to help build the buzz for ticket sales, marketing, sponsorships and promotion.
“The whole city of Philadelphia knows this is going to be a thing for quite a while,” said WFC general manager Mike Sulkes, who was named director of the men’s Classic on Thursday.
Sulkes is the brainchild behind the banner that again will go to the winner this season. The banner and the chance to have your school’s name raised to the rafters has added another level of excitement for the men’s Classic. Sulkes and the WFC are committed to supporting the Big 5.
“The Big 5 is deeply unique to the city of Philadelphia,” he told Big5Hoops.com. “It’s important for us at Comcast Spectacor to be involved. We are Philadelphia, the Big 5 is Philadelphia. It doesn’t exist anywhere else. To get the Big 5 back to its rightful place in the Philadelphia sports landscape, and you saw the first steps of that last year. People were talking about the Big 5 Classic. You saw it starting, and we just want to continue to build on that.”
And the buildup continued on Thursday with three big announcements for the Big 5. There were no dunks or 3-pointers made at Villanova and no on-court victories. But, clearly, the Big 5 was a big winner on Thursday.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages. He currently is writing a book on the 2003-04 Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball team.