The second-annual Big 5 Classic will conclude Saturday, December 7 with all six of Philadelphia's men's Division 1 college basketball programs taking part in a triple header at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly.
As a result of the pool play throughout November, St. Joseph's and La Salle will play in Saturday's championship game. Prior to the main event, Villanova and Temple will play in the third-place game, and Penn and Drexel will take part in the fifth-place game.
The defending champions of last year's inaugural tournament, St. Joe's, will have a chance to walk away with back-to-back titles, after wrapping up pod play 2-0.
Schedule for 2024 Big 5 Classic triple header on December 7
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Image Credit: Wells Fargo Center
- 5th place game: Penn Quakers vs. Drexel Dragons - 2:00 p.m. ET
- 3rd place game: Villanova Wildcats vs. Temple Owls - 4:30 p.m. ET
- Championship: St. Joseph's Hawks vs. La Salle Explorers - 7:00 p.m. ET
Tickets can be found at big5classic.com, starting at $30.
NCAA
All three games will be broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, with games two and three being simulcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The championship game will also encore on NBC Sports Philadelphia on Monday, December 9 at 8 p.m. ET.
What is the Big 5 Classic?
The Big 5 Classic was announced in 2023, replacing the former Big 5 title that was simply determined by round-robin, regular-season play between five of the six area schools (minus Drexel). The five member schools came together to expand the Big 5 to officially include Drexel, which had been in D1 basketball since 1974 but was never recognized as a member of the group.
With Drexel's addition, the six schools were separated into two pods of three teams each for the Big 5 Classic. The 2024 pods remained the same as the inaugural Classic. Pod 1 comprised of Temple, La Salle, and Drexel this year, while Villanova, St. Joe's, and Penn made up Pod 2. Teams in each pod played each other in a round-robin format.
As a result of pod play, the top teams in each pod advanced to the championship game, the second teams in each pod will play in the third-place game, and the bottom teams will face off in the fifth-place game. All three games will take place back-to-back-to-back on Saturday afternoon in what should be a terrific showcase of Philadelphia college basketball.
Why are there six teams in the Big 5?
La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy -- who has 600 wins in the Big 5 and has also led Temple and Penn in his illustrious career -- answered that question during the initial announcement in April 2023.
"As evidenced by the Atlantic 10 with 15 schools, the Big Ten has 14 schools, the Big 12 has ten," Dunphy said. "So it's not really that important how many schools are in the Big 5. Now we're going to have six."
Tradition dictates keeping the Big 5 name, as opposed to switching to the "City 6" or some other moniker.
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NBC Sports Philadelphia's Sean Kane and Travis Hughes contributed to this story.
