 Philadelphia Big 5 logo | |
| Sport | College basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1955 (men's) 1979 (women's) |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country | United States |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Most recent champion(s) | Saint Joseph's (men's) Temple (women's) |
| Most titles | Villanova (29) (men's) Villanova (21) (women's) |
| Related competitions | A-10, AAC, Big East, City 6, CAA and Ivy League basketball |
| Official website | www.philadelphiabig5.org |
The Philadelphia Big 5, known simply as the "Big 5", is an 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, while Villanova is located in a nearby Main Line suburb of the same name. 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.
From its founding in 1955 until 2023, the five teams teams played each other once in a round-robin format to determine the Big 5 champion.[a] The team(s) with the best record was then determined as 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 known as the Big 5 Classic. 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.
The women's teams competed in the same round-robin format from 1979 until 2024, when the women's counterpart of the Big 5 Classic was created. Following the same scheduling structure as the men's, the women's Big 5 Classic is played on the first Friday in December, one day before the men's showcase.
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 appeared in the men's NCAA Tournament.
Both Villanova's men's and women's basketball teams hold the most Big 5 titles, with 29 and 21 titles, respectively.
Each year the Herb Good Basketball Club selects All-Big 5 teams, as well as a coach of the year. 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."
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