When Villanova hosted the first women’s Big 5 Classic tripleheader last year, the Wildcats intended to cap it off by winning the title.
Instead, the Temple Owls spoiled the party plans and left the Main Line with the title in their hands.
This year, the Wildcats delivered. Led by Brynn McCurry’s 21 points, they topped St. Joseph’s, 76-70, Sunday in a title game that was close throughout. It marked ’Nova’s 22nd women’s Big 5 crown, the most of any City Series team.
For as much as rosters in college basketball change by season these days, coach Denise Dillon admitted she had kept last year’s loss in mind.
“That’s the responsibility of myself and our staff, to explain to our players, because of so many new players on the roster, and not recognizing what Philly basketball is,” she said. “Yeah, the taste stuck with me, and I think some of the others who were playing in that game. Denae Carter and Jasmine Bascoe last year, they knew they gave something up here on our home court, and wanted to make sure we took care of business here today against St. Joe’s.”
Villanova’s players celebrate with the Big 5 champions’ banner.
The Hawks were more than valiant. Rhian Stokes totaled 23 points and six assists, while Gabby Casey had 19 points and eight rebounds.
At the other end, St. Joe’s held Bascoe to 4-of-16 field-goal shooting, though she still had 13 points. McCurry, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, delivered her third straight 20-point outing.
“Kudos to [McCurry] and to her teammates for stepping up, because I thought we did a hell of a job on Bascoe,” Hawks coach Cindy Griffin said,
December obviously isn’t March, but Villanova is on some national bracketologists’ early NCAA Tournament bubbles. Though the Wildcats lost at Princeton last month, they made up for it with a win at then-No. 25 West Virginia last Monday, and followed it with a win at Georgetown on Thursday to open Big East play.
Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe defending Rhian Stokes of St. Joe’s, who led all scorers with 23 points.
Their next game, following exams, should be another solid barometer: home vs. Seton Hall on Dec. 19. The Pirates were picked third in the preseason conference poll, with ’Nova fourth.
“We gave up a tough one to Seton Hall last year in this place,” Dillon said of a 56-55 defeat. “We’ll remind them [at practice] on Tuesday.”
The rest of the day
Drexel topped Temple in the third-place game, 59-52. With Dragons star guard Amaris Baker held to just seven points on 2-of-13 shooting, Deja Evans stepped up with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, plus seven rebounds and three assists.
“Things weren’t going our way, our scorers weren’t making shots, but they still found a way to lock in and stay focused on what we needed to do to win the game,” Drexel coach Amy Mallon said. “And to me, that’s what Drexel basketball is about, and how we find ways to win.”
New York Liberty star Jonquel Jones, the adopted daughter of Temple women’s coach Diane Richardson, sat courtside to watch the Owls. That was a reminder of how big women’s basketball is nationally these days, though the stardust hasn’t landed on the Big 5.
Jonquel Jones (second from left) sitting courtside during the Temple-Drexel game.
“Well, I’d love to have her on the court, but we have already exhausted that eligibility,” the always-charismatic Richardson said. “It’s great. She loves our kids and she’s got some time off because of her [ankle] injury, so she’s been spending a lot of time with me. We’re glad to have her here, and not only just for us, but for women’s basketball — and here at the Big 5, where we want to shine a light.”
Penn won the fifth-place game over La Salle, 65-52, led by Katie Collins’ 20 points and nine rebounds. The Quakers led by 21 points in the third quarter, but the Explorers rallied to within five at the end of the period before Penn pulled away in the fourth.
As The Inquirer confirmed a few days ago, the women’s tripleheader will change location next season. Sunday marked Villanova’s second straight year, and the second straight year of disappointingly small crowds on the Main Line: 1,242 fans over the three games.
Though it’s not official yet, the Palestra is the favorite right now to host as part of the arena’s 100th birthday celebration. Penn’s coach isn’t alone in hoping that moving the games to the city’s most famous college basketball venue will draw more fans to watch them.
“I know one thing: Penn would put on a first-class event, just like Villanova has done here,” said Mike McLaughlin, who has long championed having the women’s tripleheader at the city’s most famous venue. “This has been a great event for our athletes, and Penn will do the same if it’s at the Palestra.”
The Villanova women’s basketball team had vengeance in mind as it beat Temple to open Big 5 play on Nov. 22.
While the teams’ history spans decades, anticipation of the annual Big 5 Classic tripleheader has added a new layer to the competition.
And for some Villanova players, the 30-point win was personal. Temple beat Villanova by 14 to win last year’s inaugural women’s Big 5 Classic championship.
“[The Big 5 championship] was a tough loss last year,” Villanova senior guard Ryanne Allen, a Bucks County native and Archbishop Wood graduate said. “That was a huge impetus for us, especially losing on our home floor. We didn’t want it to happen again, so it was nice to get that win back for us.”
Three days after the Wildcats’ 88-58 win, they secured a return to the Big 5 championship game with a win over La Salle. In the other “pod,” St. Joseph’s (6-2, 0-1 Atlantic 10) came out on top with wins over Penn and Drexel. The Wildcats (7-2, 1-0 Big East) will face the Hawks on Sunday at Finneran Pavilion (4:30 p.m., NBCSP).
After back-to-back years at Finneran Pavilion, the Big 5 Classic will change locations next season, Villanova confirmed. The Palestra, a focal point of Philadelphia basketball history, would be a fitting host as the venue prepares for its its 100th birthday.
Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe goes up for a layup as Temple’s Tristen Taylor defends on Nov. 22.
“It’s a great rivalry,” said Cindy Griffin, who is in her 25th season coaching the Hawks. “We’ve been battling [with Villanova] for the last couple of years, and we’re ready to come on top of this battle … I think our players are hungry to not only compete, but to win. It’s going to be a great game.”
Villanova will install the Big 5 logo on its court at the Finneran Pavilion as it prepares to host the tripleheader for the second consecutive year.
“I’m hoping this young crew recognizes how [the home court] can work in your favor, and just feed off that energy,” Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. “Our atmosphere here at the Finn is tremendous. We’ve got to feel it and know that it can give us a little bit of an edge in a tough battle against our city rival.”
The Wildcats will ride the high of a five-game winning streak — including wins over No. 25 West Virginia and Georgetown in their Big East opener — into the championship game.
Since 2004, Villanova has a 15-4 record against the Hawks.
“We had a couple disappointing losses to start the season, but you can just see this group figuring out who they are and what they’re doing. … Getting that tough La Salle win at their place to put ourselves in position was the first step,” Dillon said. “We’ll focus all of our attention on Saint Joe’s, hopefully redeeming ourselves and getting that win on Sunday in front of our fans.”
The Hawks are led by homegrown talent in returning junior guards Gabby Casey and Aleah Snead.
Casey, who attended Lansdale Catholic, and Snead, a graduate of Penn Charter, will bring an extra level of intensity to the Big 5 matchup. Casey currently leads St. Joe’s with 15.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
“Gabby [Casey] and Aleah [Snead] are the ultimate competitors and Philadelphia kids,” Griffin said. “ … they understand what [the Big 5] is. They understand the pride and the value of playing in Philadelphia and representing St. Joe’s.”
St. Joseph’s guard Aleah Snead (left) celebrates with teammates Talya Brugler and Gabby Casey after a game last season.
As dynamics between Big 5 schools shift entering the 2025 Classic, the tripleheader will serve as a platform for each school to promote its program.
“There’s a lot of different brands of basketball in the Big 5,” Griffin said. “I think just with the growth of women’s basketball, the more we promote women’s basketball in our area, the better off all these young women are going to be.”
Mark Ferrante wore his usual visor with a smile, but his plastic toothpick, which normally sticks out of the side of his mouth at practices, was missing.
It was Wednesday morning, and the Villanova coach walked off the field at Villanova Stadium after wrapping practice in preparation for his team’s game against Lehigh in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Despite the team’s inexperience after losing more than a dozen starters to graduation, Villanova demolished Harvard, 52-7, last weekend and has won nine straight. Ferrante said postgame that his players might lack experience, but they never lacked confidence.
Ferrante, in his ninth year at the helm, and the program is making its fifth FCS playoff appearance in the last six seasons and 17th all-time. Ferrante has been around the team since 1987 and watched former head coach Andy Talley build the program from the ground up. That paid off in 2009, when Villanova won its lone FCS championship.
In the last three seasons, Villanova has won its first FCS playoff game and then fallen short in the second round. Last season, Villanova traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to face sixth-seeded Incarnate Word in the second round. The Wildcats held Incarnate Word, which last season averaged 33.6 points per game, to 13, but still lost, 13-6.
Now, Villanova is back in the second round, and Ferrante is tasked with guiding his team over that hurdle on Saturday noon (ESPN+) in Bethlehem, Pa.
Villanova’s FBS game — against Penn State this season — and tough Coastal Athletic Association matchups helped prepare the team to play into December.
Wildcats running back Ja’briel Mace (4) carries the ball on Nov. 15.
“Sometimes it comes down to the health of the team,” Ferrante said. “If you look at last year against Incarnate Word, we’re playing a ton of freshmen [defensive backs] in that game by the time we got to that point of the season. So right now, we’re better than we were a year ago when it comes to the health of the team. I’m not looking to make excuses, because you have to go 1-0 each week. And this idea is to survive and advance.”
Villanova has lost starters intermittently because of injuries this year. Notably, standout running back David Avit has missed the last three games with a knee injury. Ja’briel Mace and Isaiah Ragland stepped up with no issue, both rushing for career highs during that stretch. Mace even broke the program’s 24-year-old single-game rushing record.
On defense, the team started the season without graduate linebacker Richie Kimmel and lost junior linebacker JR Strauss after the Penn State game.
During Villanova’s 2009 championship season, meanwhile, it lost one notable starter to an injury.
While injuries are uncontrollable, execution is not, Ferrante said.
“The bottom line is it has to come down to execution,” Ferrante said. “You have to go out and perform at a high level, regardless of who you’re playing, regardless of the weather conditions, regardless of the health of your team.”
Villanova coach Mark Ferrante, applauding his team on Nov. 29.
Graduate linebacker Shane Hartzell has played in all of Villanova’s playoff games these past three seasons.
“The experience of Shane, I’m sure [the vets] talk to guys behind the scenes,” Ferrante said. “I think we have a good locker room right now. So I think there’s a lot of that going on that we really don’t even see as coaches, but it’s their practice habits that help as well. You have guys that just go out there and practice hard all the time, and that filters down into the young guys.
“So now you see some of our younger guys are having fairly good success. They see how practice is supposed to be, and then they follow suit, and then they end up becoming pretty good players.”
It has become a standard for Villanova to retain players for four years or more. Ten of Villanova’s starters last season were five-plus-year players.
“We just try to set a standard of being good students, good athletes, and good people,” Ferrante said. “Just work hard, be a good person, make good decisions, and good things will happen.
“That’s our approach when it comes to the classroom. That’s our approach when it comes to practice and playing. If you have a good locker room and you have a team that could lead themselves a little bit, there’s not a lot of drama.”
As college football coaches ride a merry-go-round of programs, Ferrante has not moved an inch from the Main Line, and that looks to be the case well into the future.
“If you love what you do, you love where you do it, and you love the people you do it with, that’s a win,” Ferrante said. “And that’s what this place has been for me.”
In March of 2013, La Salle pulled off the improbable. The Explorers hadn’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 1992. They hadn’t advanced past the Round of 64 since 1990.
But here they were, on a chilly night in Kansas City, edging out Kansas State, 63-61, to earn a spot in the Round of 32.
As players danced in the middle of the locker room, with the music blaring, an unlikely figure emerged.
Donning a black suit with a blue dress shirt, the visitor walked through the chaos, straight to La Salle’s head coach, John Giannini.
It was Jay Wright.
His team had a game in a few hours, against North Carolina, but the Villanova head coach wanted to congratulate his dear friend.
Former La Salle head coach John Giannini during a game against Butler on Jan. 23, 2013.
“Once we got to the tournament, we were always rooting for each other,” Wright said of the Big 5 programs. “It was always about Philadelphia basketball.”
This was the way he and his Big 5 counterparts had been taught. When Wright was an assistant at Villanova in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he watched as head coach Rollie Massimino battled with Temple’s John Chaney.
The games were intense, and often heated, but they always showed each other respect. Sometimes, Big 5 coaches would go to dinner afterwards. It wasn’t uncommon for them to get together during the offseason.
The coaches would celebrate each other’s wins, even though they were technically competitors. Every time Wright advanced in the NCAA Tournament, he’d get a call from Chaney.
When Martelli reached the Elite Eight in 2004, he heard from Wright and longtime La Salle coach Speedy Morris.
The men who preceded them practiced the same habits, from Temple’s Harry Litwack, to Villanova’s Al Severance, to St. Joseph’s Dr. Jack Ramsay.
“The initial [Big 5] group was so together, and so tight, that when the rest of us joined, it was just the way it was done,” said Fran Dunphy, who spent a combined 33 seasons at the helm of Penn, Temple, and La Salle. “The culture was already set.”
Former Big 5 coaches Phil Martelli, Steve Lappas, John Griffin, Speedy Morris, and Fran Dunphy.
For former Big 5 coaches in the area, that culture is still intact. Martelli, Dunphy, and Wright remain good friends. They visit with Morris, and are in regular contact with other former colleagues, like Giannini, Steve Lappas, and John Griffin.
The coaches believe this brotherhood is unique to Philadelphia, a city rich with basketball lore.
“On the court, you wanted to kill each other,” Wright said, “and off the court you were like brothers.”
A ‘different’ kind of bond
Dunphy was born and raised in Drexel Hill, only a few years before the founding of the Big 5 in 1955.
Back then, it was an association of five Division I schools: Villanova, Penn, St. Joe’s, Temple, and La Salle (Drexel was added in 2023).
The future coach rooted for them all, without prejudice. He’d often spend his Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at the Palestra, watching Big 5 teams square off.
“There were three nights of doubleheaders,” Dunphy said. “It was an amazing experience.”
When he was hired as the head coach of Penn in 1989, Dunphy felt a deep sense of pride. He also felt respect for his peers, many of whom had toiled through the same high school and assistant coaching ranks.
Their connections went far back. In 1976, when Wright was in the ninth grade, he attended a basketball camp in the Poconos. His camp counselor was a young Martelli.
A few years later, Martelli coached his first high school game for Bishop Kenrick in Norristown, which closed in 2010. His opponent was Dunphy, who was leading Malvern Prep at the time.
Morris and Chaney were introduced during their tenures at Roman Catholic and Simon Gratz in the late 1960s and 1970s. Lappas was an assistant at Villanova when Martelli assisted at St. Joe’s in the 1980s.
All of this only fortified the “brotherhood.”
Fran Dunphy spent a combined 33 seasons at the helm of Penn, Temple, and La Salle.
“It was different than going to an ACC school or a Big Ten school or whatever the major conferences are,” Dunphy said. “Let’s say we went to Orlando for an AAU tournament. There might be three or four of us sitting together as Philly coaches, because that’s what we did. And we might be recruiting the same guy.
“And there would be coaches from other leagues, and they’d say, ‘What are you guys doing?’ Well, that was just the way it was.”
Added Martelli: “You never said, ‘I’m going to talk bad about this guy or that guy, just so we can get a recruit.’ Because you knew [the other coaches] weren’t doing it. So we were not going to do it.
“People from the outside marveled at it. They’d say, ‘Seriously, this is what you guys do?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah.’”
Despite this unspoken pact, the coaches were not thrilled when a Big 5 rival would scoop up a promising player. Martelli, for example, was very frustrated when Dunphy earned local star Lavoy Allen’s commitment in late 2006.
“I would say that in a complimentary way,” Martelli said. “I was like, ‘I can’t believe we didn’t get him. And to make matters worse, Temple got him. We’ve got to deal with him for four years?’”
Even at the height of their competitive prowess, the coaches would band together for the betterment of the sport and the world around them. In 1996, Martelli and Dunphy started the Philadelphia chapter of Coaches Vs. Cancer, a nonprofit that raises awareness and funds for cancer research.
They looped in their fellow Big 5 coaches: Lappas, Morris, Chaney and Bill Herrion (who was at Drexel). Not long after Wright was hired as head coach of Villanova in 2001, he accompanied Martelli and Dunphy to meet the CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Fred DiBona, for lunch in Center City.
Former Big 5 coaches Phil Martelli and Fran Dunphy with their wives at a Coaches Vs. Cancer event.
The insurance company offered them $50,000, and became the group’s first corporate sponsor. That donation helped lift the chapter off the ground.
“The three of us were really competing against each other, right then,” Wright said. “And we all went together during basketball season, up to his office, and got that thing spearheaded.”
Wright, Martelli, and Dunphy are still very involved with Coaches vs. Cancer. The Philly chapter has since become the most successful in the country, raising over $22 million.
It is not the only legacy they’ve left behind. Over recurring breakfasts at Overbrook Golf Club, the coaches would talk about everything from scheduling to the format of the Big 5 round-robin.
Some of those ideas will be implemented on Saturday, in the third-annual Big 5 classic. Wright said that the triple-header format was discussed as far back as “15-20 years ago.”
He and peers wanted to put on a big event, one that didn’t cause scheduling conflicts.
“It was healthy, because we were from different leagues,” Martelli said. “Fran was in the Ivy League, I was in the Atlantic 10, and Jay was in the Big East.
“It was always for the greater good. It wasn’t about, ‘What’s best for St Joe’s? It was, ‘What’s best for college basketball?’”
‘The elder statesmen’
Wright, Dunphy, and Martelli have a reverence for Morris and the late Chaney, “the elder statesmen” of the group.
Chaney took special interest in Dunphy, who replaced him at Temple in 2006. The former head coach liked to share his thoughts after games. This was especially true if Temple had too many turnovers.
The next day, Dunphy’s phone would ring. He always knew who was calling.
“The conversation would go, ‘Franny, what the hell is going on out there?’” he recalled. “‘Why are we turning the ball over?’
“‘I know, Coach. We’re working on it. We’ve gotta get better.’”
Speedy Morris and John Chaney developed a friendship while serving as Big 5 coaches.
Like their younger counterparts, Morris and Chaney were contemporaries. They both grew up in the city; Morris in Roxborough and Chaney in North Philly.
The coaches also shared a flair for the dramatic. Neither man was above throwing his coat, or screaming at a referee, or stomping up and down the court.
They found kindred spirits in each other.
“He was tough,” Morris said of Chaney. “But I enjoyed him, very much.”
One day, in the late 1990s, the La Salle coach came up with an idea. The Temple coach was known for his expensive clothes, especially his ties. He’d often give them away as gifts.
So, Morris decided to pay it forward. He grabbed a few dozen of the ugliest 70s-era ties he could find, and asked his wife, Mimi, to wrap them up in a box. She sent it to Temple, with a note.
“It read, ‘You’ve been so kind to share some of your beautiful ties with me,’” Morris’s son, Keith, recalled. “‘I’d like to share a few of mine with you.’
“Chaney opened it up, and he was like, ‘What is this [expletive]?’”
After Chaney retired from coaching in March of 2006, he became an occasional attendee at Morris’ practices and games at St. Joe’s Prep. There was one, in particular, that stuck out in Morris’s mind.
It was 2006, and the two coaches had just paid a visit to Tom Gola, who was dealing with a health scare. They headed back to the Prep, where they’d parked their cars. As Morris said goodbye, Chaney made an impromptu announcement.
He would be coming to practice, too.
John Chaney, Speedy Morris, and Fran Dunphy.
Morris was thrilled. The high school coach asked his friend if he wanted to take the lead. Chaney insisted he didn’t. But once Morris started running a defensive drill, that quickly changed.
It was a 2-3 matchup zone, and a Prep player missed a weak-side box-out. Chaney jumped out of his chair, as if he was still at Temple.
He ran from midcourt to the paint.
“He said, ‘No!’” Morris recalled. “‘That’s not how we do it!’”
Chaney proceeded to give the student a 10-minute, expletive-laden lesson on rebounding and positioning. Keith Morris, an assistant coach at the time, nervously looked around to make sure there weren’t any Jesuit priests in the gym.
The two coaches stayed close until Chaney died in 2021. They’d talk on the phone at least once a week. They’d get lunch together in Manayunk, discussing basketball and life.
“They called each other brothers,” Keith said.
‘The caretakers’
This level of camaraderie is more challenging in today’s game. When Wright, Dunphy, and Martelli were coaching, the idea of having a player transfer from one Big 5 school to another was unfathomable.
Now, it is commonplace, with much more relaxed rules. The advent of NIL has pushed programs to generate more revenue, so they can remain competitive and pay their players. It has led to a corporate, less familial environment.
But despite these challenges, the coaches still believe that upholding the Big 5 brotherhood is worth the effort.
“Because the guys who are coaching now, they didn’t create the Big 5,” Martelli said. “They don’t own the Big 5. But they are the caretakers. And the same goes for all of us.”
The banner made its way to the bottom of the student section, and a crew of security guards soon was hovering. Everyone had to go, they said.
“We were like ‘What?,’” said Luke Butler, who led the crew of Temple students that night at La Salle.
The fans — the Cherry Crusade — spent a few days crafting one-liners to paint onto 30-foot banners that would be rolled out during the Temple-La Salle basketball game. The “rollouts” have been a Big 5 tradition since the 1950s, even surviving a brief ban when the schools thought the messages had become too racy.
The rollouts often are a play on words or innuendoes that make light of the opposing school. You roll out your banner and then hold your breath while the other school shows theirs. Each student body takes turns dissing each other like kids in a schoolyard. The best rollouts, Butler said, are the ones that “twist the knife” just a little.
St. Joe’s students unveil a banner referring to Villanova finishing last in the Big 5 Classic last year.
But this one, Butler learned, twisted a little too much.
The Explorers entered that game in February 2010 on a seven-game losing streak, and Ash Wednesday had been two weeks earlier. Temple, down a point at halftime, raced away in the second half. And here came the rollout: “LA SALLE GAVE UP WINNING FOR LENT.”
The Temple students — the same crew who held a “funeral” a year later for the St. Joe’s Hawk — thought it was good banter. But a priest was offended, and security had instructions.
“They were like ‘Father is pissed. You basically affronted their faith, and they don’t want you in the building,’” Butler said. “That was a good example of a rollout where we said ‘This will get a good reaction.’ It did. It just wasn’t the reaction we were thinking of.”
70 years of rollouts
The rollouts trace back to the Palestra, when the building was the home of the Big 5 and basketball doubleheaders. The bleachers were filled, the basketball was good, and the crowds were lively. Philly was the center of the college basketball universe, and the Palestra was a scene.
The “rooters” who sat behind the baskets would roll out banners during the games about opposing schools. The messages were a chance for a student body to take a shot at their rivals from across the court. When La Salle students hung a dummy of their coach in the early 1960s from a campus flagpole, St. Joe’s rolled out a banner a week later that said “We Fly Flags on our Flagpole.”
The messages became more pointed, as the Daily News wrote in January 1966 that “the rollouts wandered from the realm of good taste.” The Big 5 athletic directors agreed to ban them, saying that “certain rollout subject matter has been offensive and detrimental to the best interests and continued success of the Palestra program.”
The president of the St. Joe’s student section protested the decision at the Big 5’s weekly luncheon, telling the athletic directors that they were ruining “the greatest spectator participation event in sports” and the rollouts were part of the “spectacular” that was basketball at the Palestra.
“It’s not a spectacular,” said Jack Ramsay, then the coach and athletic director for St. Joe’s. “We’re down there to play basketball. If the students want to join in, that’s fine.”
No longer allowed to roll out their messages, students at the Palestra began to shout what they would have written. Banner Ball gave way to Chorus Ball, the Daily News wrote. A year later, the students won, and rollouts were welcomed back to the Palestra as long as messaging was preapproved by the school’s athletic office.
The banners became as integral to a Big 5 game as a soft pretzel from the Palestra concession stand. You didn’t miss a basket during a doubleheader, but you also made sure you caught the dig the opposing students made during a timeout about your school.
The banners were the game within the game as the student sections planned their rollouts like a comedian preparing a stand-up skit. The jokes had to be fresh. How many times can you call the other coach ugly before it’s no longer funny? They had to be timely and tap into current events. That scandal involving a prominent alumni from the other school? Fair game. The football team stinks? That’ll work. A basketball player got arrested? There’s a rollout to be made.
And they had to be timed just right. You can’t come out swinging with your best bit. You have to build up the crowd with a few decent banners and then roll out the one you know will hit.
“You could tell from the other alumni if they were like, ‘Whatever,’ or if it really pissed them off,” Butler said. “Ultimately, that’s what you’re looking for. From brainstorming, to the making of them, to rolling them out, you’re looking for that reaction of them saying ‘Ugh.’”
A fading tradition
The rollouts, just like the Big 5, seem to be waning. Student attendance at local games is no longer what it was. The basketball programs have been down, the transfer portal has made players hard to identify, and conference realignment has introduced games with unfamiliar opponents.
Villanova — the lone Big 5 school to make an NCAA Tournament in the last five years — is the only team that regularly draws a large swath of students. Most schools fill up a student section for the marquee games but attract just a small group on most nights. Attracting students to a once-integral aspect of campus life has become a challenge.
Each school is trying to confront the decline of student participation, and Temple decided last year to revamp its student section. The Cherry Crusade does not have a student president, and the rollouts are made by athletic department staffers.
A banner made by the Olney Outlaw’s La Salle Student Section on Thursday.
They sold out their tickets two years ago when they reached the final of the Big 5 Classic and still fill the student section for a big game. The challenge has been to build a consistent presence.
“We want to find those passionate fans to bring back what the Cherry Crusade was,” said Katie Colbridge Ganzelli, Temple athletics’ marketing coordinator for on-campus initiatives. “They’re still there. We’re just trying to find those passionate students who want to be in charge of the student section like it used to be.”
Villanova’s rollouts earlier this week vs. Temple — “Rocky would’ve gone to Villanova,” one said — didn’t twist the knife. Penn’s student section is dormant, forcing the band to provide rollouts. The tradition seems to be fading across the Big 5, but credit La Salle for trying to keep the edge.
The school revived its student section this season, and the Olney Outlaws took aim at a Big 5 coach for being follically challenged and used another rollout to dunk on Villanova and St. Joe’s. They’re twisting the knife in Olney.
“We had noticed a lack of student engagement and thought this would be a fun way to get kids involved,” said Paige Mitchell, a senior marketing major who founded the Olney Outlaws. “I was working in the athletic department, and my boss at the time gave me a project to come up with something that would get everyone more engaged. It’s grown from there.”
Get your rollouts ready.
The road to the Toyota Big 5 Classic starts Saturday and ends at Xfinity Mobile Arena on December 6! 🏀 #Big5IsPhilly
The group of students — “I have a couple guys in the group who are pretty clever,” Mitchell said — brainstorm ideas for the rollout before they meet to paint their signs. They’re ready for Saturday, when La Salle plays Drexel in the Big 5 Classic.
“It’s stressful making sure they get rolled out at the right time,” said Mitchell, who’s also a center forward on the Explorers’ water polo team. “But I love seeing the way the students react. I have a couple friends who were sitting behind the rollout, and they’re blowing up my phone like, ‘What did it say?’ It’s just exciting.”
Perfectly Philly
Butler asked the La Salle security guard if he could talk to the priest, hoping he could ask for absolution. The priest was still steaming as Butler told him it was a misunderstanding. It was just some college kids making a joke, he said. The priest offered Butler penance: the Temple students could stay, but they had to hand over the rest of their banners.
But the Owls were going to clinch the Big 5 title that night, and the Cherry Crusade brought a rollout to celebrate it. Butler pleaded with the priest to allow them to keep that sign. He rolled it out to show the priest and security guard what it said. “Fine,” said the priest. The rollouts, once again, would not be banned. A perfectly Philly tradition lived on.
“There’s something in the Philly culture that rollouts hit a perfect vein,” Butler said. “The thing about people from here is that there is respect if you can dish it and you can take it. People love to twist that knife. When people did good rollouts against us, you were angry, but there was respect there.
“It’s making fun of people who appreciate it, but also hate it, and it gives you an opportunity to be a little bit of an a—. At the end of day, it’s all love. We all love Philly basketball, even though I’ll never root for St. Joe’s and I’ll never root for Villanova. But I still want them around. I want everyone to do well, so then the hate means something.”
In 1991, a Villanova coach whose team had risen to national prominence was vilified for killing the Big 5 when the association of Philadelphia’s Division I hoops programs moved away from its round-robin format to a scaled-down version.
Thirty-five years later, new Villanova coach Kevin Willard may soon face his Rollie Massimino moment.
“It’s not going to go away,” Willard said of the Big 5 in an interview over the summer. “I think there’s ways to make things better.
“I want to go through it and figure out what’s best for it.”
On Saturday, Villanova will play for a Big 5 Classic championship vs. Penn. But what’s best for Villanova probably isn’t what’s best for the other five schools, and what’s best for Penn, St. Joseph’s, or Temple might not be what’s best for La Salle or Drexel.
To be sure, the sport has changed greatly since 1991. The gap between Villanova and the other local programs has not just grown, it’s never been greater — with Jay Wright’s run of dominance and, more relevantly, the implementation of a payment structure in college sports. Villanova is the only Big 5 school in a power conference with a major television deal and probably can afford to spend more money on its men’s basketball roster than the other five Big 5 programs combined. It probably will be a 15-point favorite over Penn on Saturday in the title game.
The money is at the heart of all of this. Forget your grandfather’s Big 5; this isn’t even your older brother’s Big 5. There are myriad reasons why the rivalries themselves aren’t the same, and they have been covered ad nauseam over the years: Young people don’t attend college basketball games the way they used to, the teams haven’t been very good, the transfer portal era has created a culture of mercenaries who travel from school to school year after year, and so on.
Fran Dunphy, the man they call “Mr. Big 5,″ who still watches plenty of basketball in his retirement, had an entire row to himself at Glaser Arena for a large part of the La Salle home game vs. Villanova last month. The Palestra has been removed from the equation almost entirely. The Villanova-St. Joe’s rivalry won’t happen this season for the first time in nearly 30 years. All of that is to say things change and nothing lasts forever.
But the financial component of it is why the current format of the Big 5 in its nascent stages — in which the six teams are divided into two rotating pods before playing two pool games to determine which teams match up in first-, third-, and fifth-place games during the Big 5 Classic tripleheader — seems unlikely to last very long.
The House v. NCAA settlement that resulted in schools directly paying players has only increased the need for financial diligence.
Players warm up before the start of the Big 5 Classic games on Dec. 7, 2024.
Villanova has to be considering the merits of keeping together an aging tradition vs. the cost of doing so, and it shouldn’t be alone in its considerations.
Instead of taking a bus ride to Olney to play at La Salle and winning by 15 in a sleepy building, wouldn’t Villanova have been better off having a home game, even if that means spending something like $100,000 to have a lesser opponent come to Finneran Pavilion? Maybe it’s not a buy-game and is instead another opportunity to host a team like Pittsburgh, which Villanova will do on Dec. 13.
Regardless of the replacement opponent, the current format means Villanova could be missing out on essentially two home games. One is the automatic road game from the two pod-play contests, the other is the Big 5 Classic itself, which divvies the pot from ticket sales seven ways between the six schools and the building.
That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue Villanova isn’t bringing in. Sure, your reaction to that can be “boo-hoo,” but that could be the salary of a rotational player floating away for the sake of nostalgia.
“When you play 20 conference games, playing an [Atlantic 10] road game every year is really difficult,” Willard said in June. “You’re also taking away a home game when revenue has become extremely important.”
Which brings us to the other element of this, and why Villanova isn’t alone, even if the Main Line school again will be vilified publicly for whatever happens next to the Big 5 (if its competition, for example, ends up being something like a one-day-only event with rotating matchups).
Let’s take Drexel or La Salle, for example. What if instead of playing two of these three Big 5 games, those schools got $100,000 to fly to a high-major program? A few hundred thousand may be a rotational player at Villanova, but that’s a starter or two at either of the aforementioned schools.
It may be reductive to view all of this through that lens, but that’s the reality for these schools. Money is all that matters, and the toothpaste is out of the tube in that regard. There will be no going back, which means traditions, even new takes on them, can’t last forever.
The new Big 5 format breathed some life into one that was getting stale, but it was agreed upon before the House settlement. The six athletic directors soon will have to put their heads together and figure out the best path forward.
“Scheduling is as important as anything in college sports,” Willard said. “Scheduling is everything.”
Massimino felt something similar in the early ’90s, too. That much hasn’t changed, but the financial implications certainly have.
Fifty-three days ago, Penn State decided it needed new blood and energy injected into the program after a 3-3 start in James Franklin’s 12th season at the helm.
Fresh off a College Football Playoff semifinal appearance and a program-record 13 wins, Penn State had expectations to again compete for a title. To say the least, that did not happen, and Franklin was fired as a result.
The mid-season timing was meant for Penn State to get an early start on the coaching search. Athletic director Pat Kraft was adamant on Oct. 13 that “a new leader can help us win a national championship.”
By the time the calendar changes to December, most college football teams want to have their head coach in place, if they do decide to make a change. Consider this: Penn State had a coaching opening before LSU, Florida, Colorado State, and Auburn, and those programs all hired their next coach before the Nittany Lions. South Florida, Kentucky, and Michigan State all had coaching changes happen last weekend and each hired a new coach by Wednesday’s early signing day for the 2026 recruiting class.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake was on Penn State’s radar before deciding to stay with the Cougars.
Brigham Young’s Kalani Sitake emerged as a top candidate for the Penn State opening earlier this week before he decided to stay in Provo, Utah, and received a contract extension. Other candidates like Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key, Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea opted to sign extensions instead of jumping ship.
There were opportunities to hire James Madison’s Bob Chesney (now heading to UCLA), a Kulpmont, Pa., native, and Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline (now heading to South Florida). Instead, the Nittany Lions chased after bigger targets, like Sitake, Texas A&M’s Mike Elko, and Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer to no avail. And Franklin not only got a new job at Virginia Tech, he took several former Penn State commits with him.
Brian Daboll, the former New York Giants coach, is a candidate, per FootballScoop, but the coaching search has now passed early signing day, and Penn State has just two players committed to its 2026 recruiting class.
The pool of candidates has shrunk considerably. The Nittany Lions’ current players and staff will have decisions to make in the coming week with a bowl game looming and the transfer portal opening next month. And at this point no matter who is hired, whether it’s Terry Smith getting an internal promotion or an outside candidate gets the job, the program will be relying heavily on the transfer portal.
After dominating Harvard at home last weekend, Villanova travels to Lehigh (12-0) on Saturday (noon, ESPN+) for a spot in the FCS playoff quarterfinals.
The Wildcats (10-2) will need to slow down Lehigh’s No. 4-ranked rushing attack (235.3 yards per game), which is led by running back Luke Yoder (110.8 yards per game). Quarterback Hayden Johnson also brings a dual-threat element to Lehigh’s offense, rushing for 426 yards and four rushing touchdowns in addition to his 18 passing touchdowns and 62.5% completion percentage.
Lehigh’s pass rush is among the most prolific in the FCS. The defense has collected 40 sacks, the fourth most nationally. Lehigh also has the stingiest run defense in the FCS, allowing just 73.7 rushing yards per game, and is the No. 2 scoring defense (13.9 points allowed).
Pat McQuaide will lead Villanova’s high-powered offense against Lehigh on Saturday.
As opposed to last week, when the Wildcats dominated Harvard with 319 rushing yards, the offense will likely need to win this game on the arm of Pat McQuaide. He was efficient in last week’s win, throwing for 193 yards and three touchdowns. Lehigh ranks 50th in the FCS in passing yards allowed per game (207.9), so there should be opportunities for McQuaide to find playmakers Luke Colella and Lucas Kopecky downfield.
The winner will face either Tarleton State or North Dakota next weekend.
Can Eastern U keep going?
Fresh off its first-ever postseason victory, Eastern University (10-1) will host Susquehanna University on Saturday (noon, ESPN+) in its first ever playoff home game for a spot in the Division III quarterfinals. Head coach Billy Crocker is a former Villanova and Connecticut defensive coordinator who has quickly built up Eastern’s football program in its fourth year of existence.
The offense is led by quarterback Brett Nabb, who ranks ninth in D-III in rushing yards and is Eastern’s top ball carrier with 1,307 yards. He had four touchdowns in last week’s 28-24 win over Franklin & Marshall.
Susquehanna ranks 23rd in rushing yards allowed per game (81.1 yards). The River Hawks have played two high-scoring playoff games in consecutive weeks with wins over Washington and Jefferson College and Christopher Newport University, surrendering 28 or more points in each game.
If Eastern wants to slow down Susquehanna’s high-scoring offense, which ranks 16th in scoring (43.3 points), it starts with the passing offense, which averages 273.2 yards. Eastern’s pass defense has been solid, allowing 158.1 passing yards per game, and its defense ranks top 30 in points allowed (15.8 points) and top 15 in total defense (249.3).
The winner will face either Salisbury or Johns Hopkins next weekend.
The BIG number
33: The number of recruits for Temple’s early signing day class, finalized on Wednesday, which was more than Villanova, Penn State, and Penn combined. That number was also the Owls’ largest in program history, and was ranked the top class in the American Athletic Conference, according to 247Sports.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) is expected to go early in next year’s NFL draft.
Game of the week
Big Ten championship: No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Indiana (8 p.m., Fox29)
Though both teams are CFP bound no matter the result, the two top-ranked teams in college football will square off in Indianapolis on Saturday night. Heisman hopeful Fernando Mendoza, Indiana’s quarterback, is a projected top 10 pick in the 2026 draft class.
Ohio State’s defense is loaded with talent, from linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles to safety Caleb Downs.
Villanova announced the signing of 13 players during college football’s early signing day on Wednesday.
Five offensive players and eight defensive players in the 2026 recruiting class signed their national letters of intent to join the Wildcats next season under coach Mark Ferrante. The incoming class features five players from Pennsylvania, five from New Jersey, two from Maryland, and one from Connecticut.
The Wildcats signed wide receivers Jasiah Brown of Morristown (N.J.) High School and Andrew Esposito of New Canaan (Conn.) High School; offensive lineman Patrick Degnan of Seneca High School; quarterback Nolan DiLucia of Peters Township (Pa.) High School; and running back Brandon Way of Lancaster Catholic.
Brown will play wide receiver on the Main Line after a decorated high school career as a two-way starter at Morristown, where he earned first-team all-conference honors. Esposito, a 6-foot-3 receiver, was among the top recruits out of Connecticut and was named the state’s MaxPreps Player of the Year in 2024. He had nine touchdowns and also recorded two interceptions.
DiLucia will add depth at quarterback. He was named first-team all-conference three times and twice earned all-state recognition.
Way is the only new signee to join Villanova’s talented running back corps. In his high school career at Lancaster Catholic, he totaled 1,500 yards and 21 touchdowns and earned all-state recognition.
Villanova’s Mark Ferrante during the program’s FCS playoff matchup against Harvard on Nov. 29.
Signees on defense
Villanova’s defensive recruits include linemen Thomas Coates of Urbana High School in Ijamsville, Md., and Jackson Kraemer of Mount Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh; defensive backs Abu Fofana of Conwell-Egan, Luis Martinez of Allentown Central Catholic, Isaiah Selby of Paramus (N.J.) Catholic, and Jordan Taylor of North Point High School in Waldorf, Md.; and linebackers Colin Gurley of Central York High School and Donovan Linthicum of Oakcrest High School.
Gurley, a two-time all-state honoree, registered 100 tackles (26 for loss) and 17½ sacks at Central York. Linthicum earned all-state honors in New Jersey while recording 380 tackles.
Selby helped lead Paramus Catholic to the New Jersey state playoffs as a two-way starter. At defensive back, he totaled 40 tackles and forced two fumbles.
The newly signed players will be part of Villanova’s inaugural campaign in the Patriot League of the FCS as the program changes conferences for the 2026 season.
Villanova will visit Lehigh in the second round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday (noon, ESPN+).
The third annual men’s Big 5 Classic returns to Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday. The event will feature the teams from the Division I Philadelphia schools, a tradition that has been around for more than 70 years.
The Villanova women are in the championship for the second consecutive year on Sunday at Finneran Pavilion in the women’s Big 5 Classic.
Here’s a look at the men’s and women’s Big 5 brackets:
Men’s bracket
Fifth place: Drexel vs. La Salle, 2 p.m. Saturday
Third place: St. Joseph’s vs. Temple, 4:30 p.m.
Championship: Penn vs. Villanova, 7:30 p.m.
All games will be broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The championship features two teams that are seeking their first Big 5 crown in the new format. This also is the teams’ first appearance in the championship game.
Both teams have first-year coaches, with Kevin Willard at Villanova and Fran McCaffery at Penn, and both won pod games by double digits to earn a spot in the final.
The men’s side tips off on Saturday for the third straight year, but there is one change in the matchups. For the first time since the format debuted, St. Joe’s will not be in the championship to defend its crown.
St. Joe’s will play Temple in a rematch of the 2023 title game for third place. St. Joe’s beat Drexel on Nov. 8 to begin pod play, setting up a showdown with Penn. The Quakers’ 83-74 upset win sent them to their first Big 5 championship game.
Temple returns to the third-place game for the second consecutive season. Coach Adam Fisher’s team defeated La Salle, 90-63, but was unable to beat Villanova in what essentially was a semifinal game. The Wildcats outscored the Owls by 17 in the second half for a 74-56 victory.
La Salle will take on Drexel in the fifth-place game . The Explorers lost to St. Joe’s in the championship last season but lost both of their pod games, to Temple (90-63 on Nov. 11) and Villanova (70-55 on Nov. 19) this season.
Drexel coach Zach Spiker uses a timeout to draw up some plays for his team against St. Joe’s on Nov. 8.
Drexel is in the fifth-place game for the third consecutive year after being added to the Big 5. The Dragons lost to St. Joe’s (76-65 on Nov. 8) and Penn (84-68 on Nov. 21) in pod play.
Women’s bracket
Fifth place: Penn vs. La Salle, noon Sunday
Third place: Drexel vs. Temple, 2:15 p.m.
Championship: St. Joe’s vs. Villanova, 4:30 p.m.
Temple entered the season on a mission to defend its Big 5 championship. Those aspirations were dashed after the Owls’ 88-58 loss to Villanova on Nov. 22 in a rematch of last year’s final.
Now the Wildcats will be playing in the main event on Sunday (all games on NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and the NBC Sports app) after losing a year ago. They will play St. Joe’s, which is a year removed from a third-place finish. The Hawks earned their way to the championship game after defeating Penn, 74-53, on Nov. 24 and beating Drexel, 57-55, five days later.
Temple’s loss to Villanova sends it to the third-place game against Drexel. The last time the teams played was Nov. 23, 2024, and the Owls won, 52-43.
Temple’s Tristen Taylor drives against Villanova’s MD Ntambue on Nov. 22.
The Dragons beat Penn, 72-55, on Nov. 3 and had the two-point loss to St. Joe’s on Saturday.
The first game of the day will feature La Salle and Penn. The Explorers are 5-2 but have yet to win a Big 5 pod game in the two seasons of the new format for the women. La Salle has lost its four pod games by an average of 17.8 points, and both of its losses this season are by double digits.
It took 2½ minutes for Acaden Lewis to, for all intents and purposes, end a Villanova–Temple game Monday night at Finneran Pavilion that mostly had been a sloppy rock fight for the first 25 minutes.
The Villanova freshman, in foul trouble for the bulk of the first half, hadn’t yet made his mark on a game that was sending the winner to the Big 5 Classic championship game.
In a flash, that changed. The Wildcats, in the third year of the current Big 5 Classic format, finally will play for a championship in a City Series the program had long dominated. They beat Temple, 74-56, largely because of Lewis’ steady hand and a short sequence that changed the game.
First, Lewis got to the basket and finished a layup through contact. His three-point play cut a four-point Temple lead to one with 15 minutes remaining. Then he stripped Temple’s Gavin Griffiths and fed Devin Askew for a three-pointer.
After a Temple miss, Villanova’s Duke Brennan, the nation’s leading rebounder, grabbed one of his game-high eight rebounds and found Lewis, who got the ball up court quickly and into the hands of Tyler Perkins, who hit one of his game-high five three-pointers en route to his 19-point night.
Timeout Temple. Tide turned. Lewis got a hockey assist on the next Villanova possession, then grabbed the ensuing Temple miss, brought the ball up the court, and found Brennan rolling to the rim for two easy points. Villanova’s lead was only six with 12 minutes, 20 seconds to play, but Lewis was rolling, and it was only a matter of time before the game got out of Temple’s reach.
Tyler Perkins led Villanova with 19 points against Temple on Monday night.
Lewis finished with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting to go with eight assists, five rebounds, and two steals. He played 24 minutes, was a plus-25, and didn’t turn the ball over.
Monday’s stat line came on the heels of Lewis’ 20-point outburst in Villanova’s win over Old Dominion last week. He has averaged 6.4 assists over Villanova’s last five games.
Lewis, a top-35 recruit in the 2025 class, was benched in Villanova’s season-opening loss to nationally ranked Brigham Young. His decision-making and defense in his college debut weren’t good enough. But he has responded over the last four weeks with maturity and poise.
“He’s been playing at an extremely high level ever since the BYU game, and I think he just keeps getting a little bit more comfortable with guys out there and what he’s doing,” Villanova coach Kevin Willard said. “He’s been great.”
Lewis said he’s feeling more comfortable. He sees it in his ability to take care of the ball and not turn it over. He had four turnovers apiece in victories over Sacred Heart and Duquesne, but followed those outings up with two turnovers vs. La Salle, one vs. Old Dominion, and zero Monday night vs. Temple. His defense has improved, too.
“Man, is he good,” Temple coach Adam Fisher said. “I got to watch him in high school and stuff. He’s just so smooth as a freshman, and I think you see Coach Willard’s teams through the years, his personnel gets better. So I think what you’re seeing from Lewis right now, and the Lewis come February and March is going to be even better.
“And right now, he’s pretty freakin’ good. All five guys got to guard him, his ability to pick you apart. He can guard, he’s got great length, and he disrupts the game.”
Even if he’s not realizing it in the moment.
“I honestly have no clue,” Lewis said when asked about the impact of the aforementioned sequence that changed the game. “I kind of got lost in the game.”
Acaden Lewis (right) fueled a Villanova run that helped put Monday’s game against Temple on ice.
Villanova, with Lewis on the bench for the final 10 minutes of the first half, looked lost offensively at times. Temple’s trio of guards — Aiden Tobiason, Derrian Ford, and Jordan Mason — who combined for 41 of Temple’s 56 points, did a good job disrupting Villanova’s flow. But Villanova finally put together an extended stretch of good defensive play, an area that has been of concern to Willard lately.
Willard said he was happy at halftime despite Villanova leading by just one, 29-28. The Wildcats outscored the Owls, 45-28, in the second half. They outrebounded Temple (4-4), 43-24, overall.
Villanova had nine turnovers in the first 21 minutes of the game, but not another the rest of the way largely because of Lewis, who drained a three-pointer for good measure (or practice) after the final horn sounded.
The Wildcats are 6-1 and have KenPom’s No. 1 team, Michigan (7-0), which is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press poll, on Tuesday. It will be a litmus test type of game for a team that currently has no real signature win on its resumé.
First up, though, is a date Saturday with Penn (5-3) in the championship of the Big 5 Classic.
“Where we’re trying to get this program back to, you got to learn how to win games that matter,” Willard said. “To play Penn for the Big 5 championship … learning how to win championships, especially in today’s world where you have 13 guys who are all brand-new, it’s a good opportunity for us to learn and see what it’s all about.”
Big 5 Classic matchups set
Fifth-place game: Drexel vs. La Salle, 2 p.m.
Third-place game: St. Joseph’s vs. Temple, 4:30 p.m.
