For those of you who aren’t aware, the Big 5 is a quasi-tournament of the Philadelphia-based colleges in basketball. For many years, the Big 5 consisted of five schools: Temple, Villanova, St. Joe’s, La Salle, and Penn. Those five schools played in a round-robin tournament at the Palestra, but like everything with college sports nowadays, the tournament changed when Drexel was added in 2023-24. They still kept the name “Big 5” despite having six schools — shoutout the Big 10 — but the branding changed to the “Big 5 Classic” and the tournament itself went to a pod system instead.
Despite the changes, the Big 5 ain’t what it used to be. Temple is not the Atlantic 10 power it once was, as it now sits as a mid-tier AAC program that hasn’t made the tournament since 2019. Penn doesn’t dominate the Ivy League like it did under Phil Dunphy; though Fran McCaffrey certainly turned things around in year one. St. Joe’s is a long ways aways from the Phil Martelli years. La Salle doesn’t even sniff tournaments anymore. And Drexel — well, they aren’t even *really* a part of the Big 5.
Villanova had led the way for a while, as you would imagine being Jay Wright’s tenure. But it’s the Wildcats in the news for opting out of the Big 5 — though, they are blaming Temple.
I don’t really care why Villanova is opting out, nor will I defend Kevin Willard — he is a Pitt grad, after all. But the important thing here is to note what the Big 5 is losing:
- Their biggest brand and fan base.
- A school that isn’t actually in Philadelphia.
You know who fits that criteria to a T? Yup, that’s right, the Penn State Nittany Lions. A big brand, especially in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia? Absolutely. And like Villanova, are we technically a Philly school? No.
But seriously, though I write a bit of this in jest, I think Penn State getting to play in the Big 5 would make a lot of sense for all involved. Sure, the Penn State basketball brand isn’t *quite* as big as football, but if you hold a sporting event in Philadelphia, Penn Staters will come.
