Philadelphia's college basketball teams prepare to go head-to-head at Big 5 Classic tournaments
It's a big weekend in Philadelphia for college basketball fans. City champions will be crowned in Division I men's and women's basketball.
In this city, the rivalries go back decades. There's trash talk with friends, family members and coworkers.
But when the dust settles this weekend, only two teams will have the ultimate bragging rights.
The lights will be bright Friday at Villanova as the school hosts the inaugural Big 5 women's championship.
"We have 6,500 seats here. I honestly think it's the perfect venue for something like this," said Brian Beacham, Villanova senior associate athletic director and chief athletics operating officer.
La Salle and Penn will play for fifth place.
St. Joe's and Drexel will battle for third place, and the hosts will take on Temple for the title.
"To be able to host and be playing in that championship game is tremendous," Villanova women's head coach Denise Dillon said.
Villanova is up for the task, having hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament two years ago.
"This is something we've been working on here as an administration at Villanova since June," Beacham said. "A majority of the detail goes into the facility and how we make three games work here in a six- to eight-hour window."
The goal is to eventually move the Women's Big 5 Classic to the Wells Fargo Center.
For the second year under this new format, the Men's Big 5 Classic will be held Saturday in South Philly.
"From the setup all the way through to shootarounds, game presentation, everything is mapped out ahead of time. It's just months of organization and coordination," Michael Sulkes, business director for the Big 5 Men's Classic, said.
One ticket will get you into all three games, but the organizers want to combine old-school traditions with new-school ideas. Fans who leave the arena can get a wristband to get back in, Sulkes said.
"We felt that was imperative to keeping the soul of the Big 5 alive — combining those old school traditions like the streamers, like the rollouts with the brand new venue," Sulkes said.
Penn and Drexel will play for fifth place. Temple and Villanova will meet up in the third-place game, and La Salle and St. Joe's will play for the crown.
"That's a moment for La Salle University — facing the defending champs St. Joe's — that the old format never would have created," Sulkes said. "That's what we were looking for. We're really excited for Saturday to see how it plays out."
The Men's Big 5 Classic Tournament presented by Toyota culminates with three games at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, while the women's tournament wraps up on the Main Line on Friday.