PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It was a big day for Philadelphia college basketball, as the Big Five welcomed a sixth member and a new format.
At an event at Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday morning, Drexel University was officially added as a member of the Big Five — joining La Salle University, University of Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph’s University, Temple University and Villanova University for the 68th season of City Series basketball.
Drexel head coach Zach Spiker said he was thrilled that his program got the invitation.
“Well, I think it's huge,” he said. “And you think about the Drexel history, and the Big Five. Since 1955, the Big Five has been up and running in Philadelphia — and so many [Drexel] coaches and so much history. Sam Cozen, right? Certainly Eddie Burke and Coach [Bill] Herrion and Bruiser Flint — all coaches that have come before us that, I hope, are honored and recognized today with this opportunity. But we're incredibly thrilled and very happy to be a part of this — officially, a part of the Big Five.”
La Salle head coach and former Penn and Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said even though the group has grown to six members, the name is staying.
“One of the things we're going to do is keep that Big Five name, as evidenced by the Atlantic 10 has 15 schools, the Big 10 has 14 schools, the Big 12 has 10 schools. So it's really not that important how many schools are in the Big Five, but right now we're gonna have six.”
In addition, a format change was announced for naming a Big Five champ. The six schools will break up into two three-team pods. Each team will play the other two teams in their pod in games at on-campus sites. And then, on Dec. 2, a Big Five champ will be crowned during a tripleheader to be played at the Center.
Drexel's Spiker said he’s looking forward to the change.
“The format — everyone's going to get a home game, everyone's going to get a road game at a Big Five school, and then we're all going to meet here on Dec. 2,” Spiker said. “That, I think, is just going to be a tremendous venue. A great opportunity to showcase Philadelphia basketball.”
The new format goes into effect for the men for the coming season. A similar format for the women is expected in the near future.