Philadelphia Big 5

Philadelphia Big 5

New Philadelphia Big 5 logo as of 2013–14
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1955
No. of teams	5
Country	United States
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Most recent champion(s)	Villanova (2016–17)
Most titles	Temple (27)
Related competitions	A-10, AAC, Big East, City 6 and Ivy League basketball
Official website	www.philadelphiabig5.org

The Big 5 is an informal association of 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 Philadelphia city championship.

The Big 5 consists of the University of Pennsylvania, La Salle University, Saint Joseph's University, Temple University, and Villanova University. All five schools are located in the Philadelphia area. Saint Joseph's campus straddles the city's border, and Villanova is in a nearby Main Line campus.

Big 5 schools represent some of the oldest and most successful men's basketball programs in the nation. Four of the five teams are in the top 40 for all-time Division I basketball victories.

The Big 5 creed reads: "They say there's no trophy for winning the Big Five. They must not be from Philadelphia."

The Big 5 was formed in 1955 a year after La Salle won the 1954 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The group showcased Philadelphia's basketball talent and helped pay for the upkeep on the Palestra, on the University of Pennsylvania's campus where the games historically took place. Games were scheduled as double or triple-headers. All schools agreed to split ticket and concessions revenues equally once Penn was paid for upkeep costs on the Palestra. The arrangement promoted already intense inter-city collegiate basketball rivalries.

During the heyday of the Big 5, many major college programs, especially in the northeastern United States, were independents. As the Big East and Atlantic 10 conferences expanded to cover most of the Northeast (Villanova joined the Big East, while Temple, St. Joseph's, and La Salle joined the Atlantic 10), and as college basketball became increasingly driven by television and its need to appeal to a broad national audience, the local character of the Big 5 was a liability. The round-robin series ended in 1991.