Big 5 Classic men’s and women’s dates are set with a new venue for the women’s championship
Xfinity Mobile Arena will once again host the men's championship day on Dec. 5, while the Palestra will welcome the women's final day on Dec. 6.
The dates and locations for the men’s and women’s Big 5 Classic are set.
The men’s classic will be held at Xfinity Mobile Arena for the fourth consecutive year on Dec 5. Meanwhile, the women’s classic will come to the Palestra on Dec 6.
The choice of Palestra for the women’s classic coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the storied arena. The event was held at Villanova’s Finneran Pavilion for its first two years.
Along with the women’s Big 5 Classic, Penn is hosting an expanded Cathedral Classic during Thanksgiving weekend and the men’s and women’s Ivy League tournaments this season.
Both the men’s and women’s Big 5 Classic will feature the city’s six Division I programs playing in a triple-header. Seeding will be once again be determined by the teams’ performance in pod play. Each pod game will take place at the schools’ on-campus arenas in a round-robin format.
For both the men and women, the teams that make up each pod are the same. Pod 1 will feature Drexel, Penn, and Saint Joseph’s while Pod 2 will consist of La Salle, Temple, and Villanova.
St. Joe’s and Villanova’s men’s teams are separated for a second year in a row. The Hawks won the first two iterations of the Big 5 Classic, while Villanova enters its season as the defending champions after it trounced Penn, 90-63.
In the women’s championship, the Wildcats also came out on top, defeating St. Joe’s 76-70.
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