Another year of college basketball is approaching its crescendo, with the NCAA tournament just days away. For the third consecutive year, Philadelphia will be without a men’s basketball team to represent the city during March Madness. At least one school from the Philadelphia Big 5 made the tournament every year from 1978 to 2022, but that all changed in 2023 when all of Philadelphia’s men’s basketball teams failed to reach the tournament, a trend that has continued to this day.
Gone are the days of Jay Wright leading Villanova to the big dance. Gone is the brief revival of Temple basketball sparked by Lavoy Allen and Khalif Wyatt under Fran Dunphy. St. Joseph’s is the proven powerhouse of today’s Philadelphia Big 5, and yet they have not made the tournament since 2016.
Considering each team’s individual performance, it’s no surprise that none of them made it to the tournament. No school made it higher than fifth in their respective conference standings. The University of Pennsylvania won just eight games this season, while La Salle, Temple, and Drexel all finished with 14, 17, and 18 wins, respectively.
Villanova, long the powerhouse under former head coach Jay Wright—having made the tournament every year from 2005 through 2022—has missed the tournament every season since Kyle Neptune took over for Jay Wright. After this third consecutive season coming up short, Villanova decided to part ways with Neptune after those three years—the price of succeeding success.
St. Joe’s, the clear-cut top of Philadelphia basketball this season, ultimately fell short also, despite finishing the year with just one fewer win than the Philadelphia 76ers, who play an 82-game schedule compared to St. Joe’s 34-game season.
How will this turn around? Philadelphia won’t wake up suddenly and have an elite, tournament-worthy basketball team. It’s going to take a combination of continued player development, stellar recruiting—including selling players on the city and the pride of playing for one of these storied schools, and, to be frank, a fair bit of NIL funds, and strong, stable leadership from the coaching staff. Villanova, due to their recent rash of success, which included two NCAA tournament wins, may have the best chance of a rather quick turnaround, but much of that will depend on who replaces Neptune.
For now, Philadelphia will have to suffer the embarrassment that is three consecutive seasons without a tournament appearance by one of the city’s men’s basketball teams. On a brighter note, while Philadelphia’s women’s teams also came up short this season, they’ve boasted representation more recently than their male counterparts, as Drexel University’s women’s team made the tournament in 2024.
