The Big 5 is no more. Philadelphia's famed basketball city series is undergoing big changes starting next season.
Well, at least not the incarnation most fans of the famed Philly basketball series remember from its heyday, when the Palestra was packed, fans hurled colorful crepe streamers on the court after the first basket and student signs known as rollouts poked fun at the other schools.
The Big 5 — the name was coined by Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer Herb Good — was officially formed in 1954, and the schools started round-robin play for "City Series" bragging rights in 1955. The first game was 68 years ago when Saint Joseph’s beat Villanova 83-70 on Dec. 14, 1955, in front of 2,636 fans at the Palestra.
Villanova’s rise as a national power under Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright — who championed the changes to the Big 5 — came at the expense of its city rivals. The Wildcats won a series-record 25 straight games from 2012 to 2018, and most of them weren’t close.
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