Bitter Big Five Rivals Square Off
If you’re not from Philly, then you can’t understand. Don’t even try. Philadelphia is about Big Five basketball; and when the two biggest teams in the Big Five square off, you can expect nothing less than a back alley brawl.
Villanova and Temple will square off today for the 80th time, on the last day of the year, for Philadelphia bragging rights. The rivalry is unmatched in the city, where both teams are the city’s storied programs. Villanova is neatly tucked away just miles outside of the city on Lancaster Avenue, in an area that locals call “The Main Line.” Temple sits in the heart of North Philly on Broad Street, right in the midst of the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia. Two campuses couldn’t be any more different.
If you are fortunate enough to be a part of the inner workings of the city of Brotherly love, if you are a basketball insider in the city known for it’s fans bluntness and its greasy cheese steaks then you know this: Of all the games that go on in the Big Five, this one will always be the one that will have a little bad blood.
Of all the schools in the Big Five, Villanova is hated the most. The part they played in breaking up the Big Five for a short time in the 1990s did not help. Rollie Massimino’s need for room on the schedule to play more “big time teams” did not sit well with local Philadelphians. It stained Villanova with a spot of arrogance that simply fueled their Big Five opponents.
Since Jay Wright took over at Villanova, the Wildcats have done a good job at luring local Philly talent. This was not the case in past years, as Villanova was accused of overlooking local Philly stars to take a more national approach to their recruiting. That was seen as a slap in the face to a city with such a rich basketball tradition.
On the other hand, Philly ballers may not admit it, but they knew about the stigma. For many years, it was unacceptable, if you were a local Philly star, to travel up Lancaster Avenue to “The Main Line” and play for the Wildcats. Although only ten minutes outside of the city, if you attended Nova you had turned your back on Philly. Philly boys stayed home. The golden pact was you went to Temple, the city school. You didn’t join the prima donnas over in the suburbs. You didn’t sell out and go for the television exposure that the Wildcats got for being part of the Big East. If you were home grown, you stayed home and gave back to the city that raised you. You paid respect.
Anyone who is from Philly and tells you differently, you must question their credibility.
Villanova would like to cement their hold on the #3 ranking in the country. There will always be whispers around the City when Villanova is highly ranked, that they are overrated. Whether they are or are not is insignificant; the chatter will always be there because it’s Philly and that’s just the way it goes in the Big Five.
Temple will look to pull off the upset and show that they can play with the big boys. The North Philly school hates to take a back seat to its city rival and would wish nothing more than to end the year by sticking a pin in Nova’s balloon, deflating them and bringing them back down to earth.
Villanova hopes to remain unscathed. In games like this one, the underdog usually comes in with so much intensity, so much energy, the records mean very little. The reputations mean nothing; it’s a Big Five game. It will decide which players can hold their heads high while walking down South Street.
“We’ve got to survive this,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “It’s like playing Connecticut in the Big East. You don’t go in there thinking, ‘I hope we win by 10’. You’ve got to survive. I feel the same way about the Temple game.”
Throw in the Palestra, one of the great historic basketball arenas in the country, and this game becomes more of a must-see. John Chaney and the Owls will use their frustrating trademark match up zone to try and slow Villanova’s high-powered guards. Villanova guard Randy Foye comes in averaging 21.8 points a game while shooting almost 44% from three. Allan Ray, Nova’s other high scoring guard, is averaging 20.5 pts a game. Villanova may have a hard time slowing down Temple All-American candidate Mardy Collins who leads Temple with 14.0 pts a game.
“He’s a big guard, not a small forward,” Wright said. “He’s a tough match up for us.”
How much of a rivalry is this? Temple owns a slight 40-39 edge in the series. The Owls won last year’s game by one point, 53-52 at the Palestra. The schools have split the last ten meetings. John Chaney has an 11-10 record against Villanova.
Today, when the ball goes up, two teams will latch on to each other and fight to uphold their school’s honor throughout Philadelphia. But the question becomes, who will be celebrating and genuinely enjoying the festivities at 12:00 midnight when the big ball drops?
