Philadelphia Big 5

For other uses, see Big Five (disambiguation).

Philadelphia Big 5
New Philadelphia Big 5 logo as of 2013–14
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1955
No. of teams	5
Country	United States
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Most recent champion(s)	Villanova (2015–16)
Most titles	Temple (27)
Related competitions	A-10, AAC, Big East, and Ivy League basketball
Official website	www.philadelphiabig5.org

The Big 5 is an informal association of 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 Philadelphia city championship.

The Big 5 consists of the University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University, Saint Joseph's University, Temple University, and Villanova University. All five schools are located in the Philadelphia area (Saint Joseph's straddles the city's border, and Villanova is in a nearby Main Line suburb).

Big 5 schools represent some of the oldest, most successful, and most well-known programs in the nation. Four of the five teams are in the top 40 for all-time Division I basketball victories. The history and tradition of Big 5 schools are also vast, such as the Saint Joseph's Hawk wing flapping, "V for Villanova", and the historic Palestra, among others.

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

History

The Big 5 was formed in 1955^[1] in order to showcase the rich basketball talent in the city and help pay for the upkeep on the Palestra, where the games historically took place. Games were played 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 intense rivalries between the teams and the proximity of the schools and their fans make the Big 5 a unique tradition in college basketball.

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, St. Joseph's, and La Salle joined the Atlantic 10), 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 was a liability. The round-robin series ended in 1991.

In 1999, the Big 5 round-robin series was revived and has continued to this day. Some things have changed from the series' heyday: the schools no longer evenly split the proceeds from the games, and La Salle, Temple, St. Joe's, and Villanova do not always use the Palestra for their home games in the series.

There are intense rivalries inside the Big 5, most notably the rivalry between Villanova and Saint Joseph's, also known as the Holy War. The St. Joe's–Temple rivalry has increased in intensity in recent years, mostly because of the "Goon Gate" incident in 2005 involving former Temple coach John Chaney where he sent in a player to intentionally foul John Bryant, which led to his fractured arm. La Salle considers Saint Joseph's to be its biggest rival.

As of 2016, at least one team from the Big 5 had made it into the NCAA Tournament for 39 straight years.

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.

Future

Some have suggested adding Drexel to the Big 5. These talks amplified during the 2006–07 season, as Drexel beat three of the four Big 5 teams it played, but no changes have been made.^[2]^[3] Drexel is a member of the City 6, which is an intra-city intramural competition between the six schools.

Annual winners

Men

All Big 5 men's basketball teams play each other once per season for a total of four games per team. There is no season-ending Big 5 Tournament, so a "champion" of the unofficial athletics group is determined by a round-robin tournament. 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).

Key
	Outright Big 5 title winner
	Shared Big 5 title winners
Team (#)	Denotes the total number of titles for that school at that point

The Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University.

At the Palestra prior to a St. Joe's – Penn basketball game.

The Palestra was the long-time home of Big 5 basketball games.

Hagan Arena is the on campus home of Saint Joseph's

The interior of The Pavilion at Villanova.

La Salle Hosts Penn at Tom Gola Arena

Season	Champion(s)^[4]	Record
1955–56	Saint Joseph's (1)	4–0
1956–57	La Salle (1) Saint Joseph's (2) Temple (1)	3–1
1957–58	Temple (2)	4–0
1958–59	Saint Joseph's (3)	4–0
1959–60	Saint Joseph's (4) Villanova (1)	3–1
1960–61	Saint Joseph's (5)	4–0
1961–62	Villanova (2)	4–0
1962–63	Pennsylvania (1) Villanova (3)	3–1
1963–64	La Salle (2)	3–1
1964–65	Saint Joseph's (6)	4–0
1965–66	Saint Joseph's (7)	4–0
1966–67	Villanova (4)	4–0
1967–68	Saint Joseph's (8)	3–1
1968–69	La Salle (3)	4–0
1969–70	Pennsylvania (2)	4–0
1970–71	Pennsylvania (3)	4–0
1971–72	Pennsylvania (4) Temple (3)	3–1
1972–73	Pennsylvania (5)	4-0
1973–74	Pennsylvania (6)	4–0
1974–75	La Salle (4)	4–0
1975–76	Saint Joseph's (9) Villanova (5)	3–1
1976–77	Pennsylvania (7) Temple (4)	3-1
1977–78	Temple (5) Villanova (6)	3–1
1978–79	Pennsylvania (8) Temple (6)	3–1
1979–80	Saint Joseph's (10)	4–0
1980–81	La Salle (5) Pennsylvania (9) St. Joseph's (11) Temple (7) Villanova (7)	2–2
1981–82	Saint Joseph's (12) Temple (8)	3–1
1982–83	Villanova (8)	3–1
1983–84	La Salle (6) Temple (9)	3–1
1984–85	Villanova (9)	4–0
1985–86	Saint Joseph's (13) Temple (10)	3–1
1986–87	Temple (11)	4–0
1987–88	Temple (12)	4–0
1988–89	La Salle (7) Temple (13)	3–1
1989–90	La Salle (8)	4–0
1990–91	Saint Joseph's (14) Temple (14)	3–1
1991–92	La Salle (9) Pennsylvania (10) Saint Joseph's (15) Temple (15) Villanova (10)	1–1
1992–93	Temple (16)	2–0
1993–94	Pennsylvania (11) Temple (17)	2–0
1994–95	Saint Joseph's (16) Temple (18)	2–0
1995–96	Temple (19)	2–0
1996–97	Temple (20) Villanova (11)	2–0
1997–98	La Salle (10) Pennsylvania (12) Saint Joseph's (17) Temple (21) Villanova (12)	1–1
1998–99	Villanova (13)	2–0
1999–00	Temple (22) Villanova (14)	3–1
2000–01	Villanova (15)	4–0
2001–02	Pennsylvania (13)	4–0
2002–03	Saint Joseph's (18)	4–0
2003–04	Saint Joseph's (19)	4–0
2004–05	Temple (23) Villanova (16)	3–1
2005–06	Villanova (17)	4–0
2006–07	Villanova (18)	4–0
2007–08	Temple (24) Villanova (19)	3–1
2008–09	Villanova (20)	4–0
2009–10	Temple (25)	4–0
2010–11	Villanova (21)	4–0
2011–12	Saint Joseph's (20) Temple (26)	3–1
2012–13	La Salle (11) Temple (27)	3–1
2013–14	Villanova (22)	4–0
2014–15	Villanova (23)	4–0
2015–16	Villanova (24)	4–0

References

↑ "Founding of the PHILADELPHIA BIG 5". Retrieved 2008-11-27.
↑ "Drexel, not in the Big 5, may be Philly's best". Athlon Sports. January 3, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
↑ "Move Over 'Nova". The Philadelphia Citypaper. May 23, 1996. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
↑ University of Pennsylvania University Archives and Records Center

External links

Official site of the Philadelphia Big 5

Philadelphia Big 5

Schools	La Salle University University of Pennsylvania Saint Joseph's University Temple University Villanova University

Teams	La Salle Explorers Penn Quakers St. Joe's Hawks Temple Owls Villanova Wildcats

Arenas	Hagan Arena Liacouras Center Palestra The Pavilion Tom Gola Arena

Related	City 6 Holy War Robert V. Geasey Trophy St. Joe's–Temple Rivalry Battle of 33rd Street

Related navigational boxes

La Salle Explorers men's basketball

Venues	Wister Hall (19??–1955) Palestra (1955–1989) Civic Center (1989–1996) First Union Spectrum (1996–1998) Tom Gola Arena (1998–present) Hayman Center (facilities)

Culture & lore	"Fight On, Explorers" City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) Scandal

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Penn Quakers men's basketball

Venues	The Palestra (1927–present)

Rivalries	Drexel Princeton

Culture & lore	History "Fight on, Pennsylvania!" City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) Penn Pep Band

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball

Venues	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse (1949–2008) The Palestra (2008–2009) Hagan Arena (2009–present)

Rivalries	Temple Villanova

Culture & lore	History The Hawk City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) Undefeated regular season

People	Head coaches Retired numbers

Seasons	1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

Temple Owls men's basketball

Venues	Convention Hall (1938–1955) ? (1955–1969) McGonigle Hall (1969–1997) Liacouras Center (1997–present)

Rivalries	Saint Joseph's

Culture & lore	City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 Robert V. Geasey Trophy Hooter T. Owl "T For Temple U"

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Helms and Premo-Porretta national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Villanova Wildcats men's basketball

Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1932–1986) The Pavilion (1986–present) Wells Fargo Center (alternate; 1996–present)

Rivalries	Saint Joseph's

Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) "V for Villanova"

People	Head coaches

Seasons	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Sports teams based in and around Philadelphia

Baseball	MLB Philadelphia Phillies IL Lehigh Valley IronPigs EL Reading Fightin Phils Trenton Thunder CL Wilmington Blue Rocks

Basketball	NBA Philadelphia 76ers D-League Delaware 87ers

Football	NFL Philadelphia Eagles AFL Philadelphia Soul AIF Lehigh Valley Steelhawks Philadelphia Yellow Jackets IWFL Philadelphia Firebirds

Hockey	NHL Philadelphia Flyers AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms ECHL Reading Royals USPHL Premier Philadelphia Flyers-USPHL EHL Philadelphia Little Flyers Philadelphia Junior Flyers Philadelphia Revolution

Rugby league	USARL Bucks County Sharks Delaware Black Foxes Philadelphia Fight

Roller derby	WFTDA Diamond State Roller Girls Philly Roller Derby

Soccer	MLS Philadelphia Union USL Bethlehem Steel FC NPSL Junior Lone Star FC PDL Lehigh Valley United Sonic Reading United A.C. ASL Philadelphia Fury

Tennis	WTT Philadelphia Freedoms

College athletics (NCAA Div. I)	Drexel University Dragons La Salle University Explorers Saint Joseph's University Hawks Temple University Owls University of Delaware Blue Hens University of Pennsylvania Quakers Villanova University Wildcats See also: Philadelphia Big 5 and City 6

Currently defunct teams

Main article: Sports in Philadelphia

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