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Big 5 Classic

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Big 5 Classic
SportCollege basketball
Founded2023 (men)
2024 (women)
No. of teams6
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
VenuesXfinity Mobile Arena (men)
Finneran Pavilion (women)
Most recent
champions
Villanova (men)
Villanova (women)
BroadcastersNBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, Peacock
SponsorsMHS Lift (2023)
Toyota (2024–present)
Websitebig5classic.com

The Big 5 Classic, officially known as the Toyota Big 5 Classic for sponsorship reasons, is an annual early-season college basketball tournament and showcase featuring the six member schools of the Philadelphia Big 5—Drexel, La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, and Villanova. The tournament begins in November with pod play and concludes on the first weekend in December with triple-headers for the men's and women's competitions.

History

[edit]

Before 2023, the Big 5 members played each other once annually[a] in a round-robin format, determining the champion as the school(s) with the best record in Big 5 play. In January 2023, administrators from the five member schools agreed on a new format for the men's Big 5 play. This included the creation of the concluding triple-header, the Big 5 Classic, and the addition of Drexel University to the series. The motivation behind this change was to "resuscitate" the Big 5, as the series had experienced declining attendance figures in the preceding years.[1]

In the new format, the six schools are divided into two pods of three teams each. Throughout November, round-robin play occurs within each pod, with each team playing the other two teams in their pod in campus-site games. After pod play, the series moves to Xfinity Mobile Arena for the Big 5 Classic, a single-day, triple-header event with three games, held on the first Saturday in December. The first game is the 5th place game, featuring the two teams that finished third in each pod; the second game is the 3rd place game, featuring the two teams that finished second in each pod, and the final game is the championship game, featuring the two teams that finished first in each pod. The winner of the championship game is the champion of the Big 5 for that season. If all three teams in a pod finished tied at 1–1, the tiebreaker is the first NET ranking of the season, which is typically released five days before the championship tripleheader.[2]

In June 2024, the athletic directors of the Big 5 member schools introduced the women's edition of the Big 5 Classic. The women's showcase follows the same pod and scheduling structure as the men's, however, the women's Big 5 Classic is held on the day before, the first Friday in December, and takes place at the Finneran Pavilion in Villanova, Pennsylvania.[3] In 2025, the women's Big 5 Classic was moved to the first Sunday in December, one day after the men's edition.

Brackets

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Men

[edit]

2023

[edit]
Campus-site games
[edit]

Campus-site games were hosted by the team listed second below.

Standings
[edit]
Big 5 Classic
[edit]

All games were played at the Wells Fargo Center on December 2.

5th place game
2:00 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Drexel 57
No. 18 Villanova 55
3rd place game
4:45 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
La Salle 93*
Penn 92
Championship
7:30 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Temple 65
Saint Joseph’s 74

* – Denotes overtime period

2024

[edit]
Campus-site games
[edit]

Campus-site games were hosted by the team listed second below.

Standings
[edit]
Big 5 Classic
[edit]

All games were played at the Wells Fargo Center on December 7.

5th place game
2:00 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Penn 47
Drexel 60
3rd place game
4:30 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Villanova 94
Temple 65
Championship
7:00 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Saint Joseph’s 82
La Salle 68

2025

[edit]
Campus-site games
[edit]

Campus-site games were hosted by the team listed second below.

Standings
[edit]
Big 5 Classic
[edit]

All games were played at Xfinity Mobile Arena on December 6.

5th place game
2:00 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Drexel 64
La Salle 69
3rd place game
4:30 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Saint Joseph's 70
Temple 69
Championship
7:00 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Penn 63
Villanova 90

Women

[edit]

2024

[edit]
Campus-site games
[edit]

Campus-site games were hosted by the team listed second below.

Standings
[edit]
Big 5 Classic
[edit]

All games were played at the Finneran Pavilion on December 6.

5th place game
3:30 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
La Salle 63
Penn 74
3rd place game
5:45 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Drexel 47
Saint Joseph's 69
Championship
8:00 PM EST
NBCSP+, Peacock
  
Temple 76
Villanova 62

2025

[edit]
Campus-site games
[edit]

Campus-site games were hosted by the team listed second below.

Standings
[edit]
Big 5 Classic
[edit]

All games were played at the Finneran Pavilion on December 7.

5th place game
12:00 PM EST
  
Penn 65
La Salle 52
3rd place game
2:15 PM EST
  
Drexel 59
Temple 52
Championship
4:30 PM EST
  
Saint Joseph's 70
Villanova 76

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ For teams that played each other twice due to being in the same conference, the second matchup between the schools was counted for Big 5 competition.

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ O'Neil, Dana. "Big 5 schools agree to new format". The Athletic. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  2. ↑ "ROAD TRIP! Men's Hoops Heads Up 33rd to Face Drexel Friday in Big 5 Pod Play". Penn Athletics. November 20, 2025. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
  3. ↑ Center, Wells Fargo. "Big 5 Basketball Announces Major Updates | Wells Fargo Center". www.wellsfargocenterphilly.com. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
[edit]
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