Big 5 men conceivably barreling toward another dance with no dancer in NCAA Tournament

Two years ago, former Inquirer college sports columnist Mike Jensen did a funny little bit on Selection Sunday. He took “a Sunday drive around the perennial hoops hotbed of Philadelphia” in search of March Madness. From gym to gym, he peered through locked doors into places where balls weren’t bouncing and selection show parties weren’t being prepared.

March Madness was, of course, nowhere to be found. For the first time since 1977, Philadelphia’s Big 5 — Drexel included, unofficially at that time — men’s basketball teams were shut out of the NCAA Tournament. There was no drama on that Sunday, no bubbles to burst. So Jensen’s story idea was funny and whimsical and, well, novel.

It was — it had to be, right? — a one-off. The home of the Palestra. The home of Jay Wright’s dynasty. The home of Temple Tuff and The Fighting Jameer Nelsons. The home of Tom Gola and the Southwest Philly Floater. That place doesn’t miss March Madness annually. Right?

Fast-forward two years, and March Madness is still nowhere to be found. The woes from 2023 bled into 2024, and there was another, as Jensen wrote in 2023, “No-Selection Sunday.” Now, 2024 has bled into 2025, even with some of the programs starting this season with a bit of optimism.

Once is cute, twice is curious, and three times is concerning.

We are less than a month from Selection Sunday, and while conference tournaments offer a sliver of hope that one team can find a run and make magic, this March likely will make some more history.

It was 1976 and 1977 when the local schools were shut out of the dance for consecutive seasons, a mark that was reached again in 2024. Back then, the tournament was played between 32 teams. Philly had never missed a tournament with the expanded field before 2023. You have to go back to a stretch from 1946 to 1948, when eight teams played in the tournament, to find the last time three years went by without Philly representation.

So what’s going on?

» READ MORE: Villanova’s offense and NCAA hopes fade in crushing loss to UConn

Entering Wednesday night’s games, the combined record of the Big 5 schools was 75-78. None of the teams was in its conference’s top five in the standings. It hasn’t been pretty.

The transfer portal and name, image, and likeness changes to the sport have certainly contributed to fan apathy and, at times, fluctuating rosters that make it difficult to field a winner. But pointing to those alone is just settling on the easiest excuse. Each conference the Big 5 schools find themselves in has programs within its confines figuring it out, one way or another.

Can the local teams?

Let’s have a little look around the Big 5.

Drexel: The Dragons (13-14, 5-9 Coastal Athletic Association) are losers in five of six. They were raided by the transfer portal and lost players to graduation from a team that won 20 games last season and finished second in the conference. Minimal NIL resources meant stuffing holes with junior college transfers. It hasn’t worked out well.

La Salle: The Explorers (12-14, 4-9 Atlantic 10) started strong against weak competition but have faded. The new John Glaser Arena brought a needed jolt and filled some seats, but the shiny new toy inevitably fades at some point. Fran Dunphy has done a heck of a job keeping his alma mater afloat, but La Salle just doesn’t seem likely to be a contender in the A-10 anytime soon.

Penn: The Quakers (6-16, 2-7 Ivy League), who lost top freshman Tyler Perkins to Villanova via the transfer portal, simply haven’t looked talented enough to win games. They had some woeful offensive showings early in the season, and while they’ve been competitive in some of their Ivy losses — including a one-point road loss to undefeated Yale — they aren’t going to finish in the top four of the conference to qualify for Ivy Madness.

St. Joseph’s: Billy Lange’s best team yet was supposed to be an at-large contender, even if the sixth-year Hawks coach did his best to couch expectations. The Hawks (15-10, 6-6 A-10) continue to be an inconsistent bunch. Their loss Saturday at conference-leading George Mason was a microcosm of what they are. They looked great for one half and couldn’t finish. When the shots fall, everything is fine. But there have been too many shooting slumps.

Temple: The Owls (14-13, 6-8 American) made some noise when they brought in Jamal Mashburn Jr. via the transfer portal, and for a while, that looked to be a huge deal. Temple started 12-6 and even beat a Memphis team ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. But the Owls are 2-7 since that start, and Mashburn, the No. 2 scorer in Division I, has missed time with an injury. They entered the season with a cloud hanging over their head because of a gambling investigation. And even though the dust has settled there, transfer guard Lynn Greer III hasn’t been around the team because of a suspension. The Owls made a deep run to the final of the AAC tournament last season. Can they do it again?

Villanova: The Wildcats (15-12, 8-8 Big East) carried the weight of the local schools into March for a while, with other programs occasionally popping in and out for short stays. Wright’s departure changed that. The Wildcats are trying to play with the big boys in the new world, unlike most of the other Big 5 schools, but they’re not keeping up so far. Tuesday night was a perfect example of what the 2024-25 Wildcats look like: Dominant for 30 minutes at UConn before scoring six points in 11 minutes to blow a 14-point lead. They have the nation’s leading scorer and a talented enough transfer class. The results just haven’t been there.

There are some institutional fixes that need to happen at most of the six Big 5 schools, like how to manage and develop NIL resources and what happens next when the dust settles from the House v. NCAA settlement.

But the easiest place to start is at the top of each program, and we could be on our way to unprecedented turnover among Big 5 men’s basketball coaches. When the current crop has combined for zero tournament wins and just two bids at their respective current posts, it’s hard to argue against change.

How many openings will there be? You probably can set an over/under at 3½ and get plenty of action on the over. It was 2002 the last time there were three new coaches leading Big 5 men’s teams, but that included Drexel, which wasn’t a member yet. You have to go back almost 100 years otherwise, and four new coaches would be historic.

Here’s a look at the argument for each.

Drexel: Zach Spiker has consistently done more with less but has reached just one tournament in eight seasons, and the Dragons have taken a step back this season. The school has a new president, and the current athletic director wasn’t the one who hired Spiker.

La Salle: Dunphy would probably be allowed on the sidelines as long as he wanted to be, but he’ll be 77 at the start of next season, and even basketball junkies like him deserve to retire at some point.

Penn: Steve Donahue built a winner at Cornell to close out the first decade of the 2000s. His return to the Ivy League at Penn, after a stint at Boston College, brought some success, including a tournament bid in 2018. But the Quakers are fading fast in the new world and haven’t been able to keep up with Yale and Princeton. They are 5-18 over the last two seasons in the Ivy.

St. Joe’s: Lange’s team could run the table in the A-10 tournament and make all of this moot. The Hawks have that much talent. But assuming that doesn’t happen, it’s getting harder to make a strong argument for St. Joe’s staying on this current path.

Temple: Who had Adam Fisher as the safest coach in the Big 5, given everything that has gone on off the court? Fisher hasn’t been perfect, but he’s probably not going anywhere after two seasons.

Villanova: Neptune’s days seem to be numbered on the Main Line. The Wildcats have suffered too many late-game collapses. This current team probably is the best roster Villanova’s leadership has assembled in Neptune’s three seasons, and it’s still likely to come up short.

Barring the unforeseen, coming up short again will be the theme of March for the local men’s teams. There will be no need to drive around looking for March Madness.

You can’t find something that doesn’t seem to exist anymore.