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01182014_MensBasketballvStJoe Credit: Yuzhong Qian , Yuzhong Qian

Nothing says honoring history like an homage to the past.

It’s been over a decade since college basketball fans in Philadelphia have seen one of the city’s greatest hardwood traditions take place. Fortunately, that drought will come to an end in January.

Former Penn Athletic Director and current Big 5 Executive Director Steve Bilsky announced last week that the Palestra will host the first Big 5 doubleheader in 11 years on Jan. 20. In consecutive contests on that Wednesday night, La Salle will face off against Temple before the Quakers host Saint Joseph’s.

The arranging of the two contests on Penn’s campus pays tribute to the Big 5, which will be celebrating its 60th anniversary during the 2015-16 season. However, it marks the first time since December 2004 that an official doubleheader will take place.

Throughout the history of the Big 5, doubleheaders involving Philadelphia’s premier teams occurred regularly at the Palestra. Although a January 2014 weekend also saw Temple, La Salle, St. Joes and Penn in action in two separate games, that twin bill was made possible when ESPN sought to host its weekly pregame show, College Gameday, at the Palestra.

As a result, when the four squads get together again prior to the start of conference play early next year, they will be throwing back to the first several decades of the Big 5 as it approaches its 60th birthday.

“The Athletics Directors wanted to do something very special to celebrate this unique achievement,” Bilsky said. “We thought nothing would capture its history better than a competition to be held in the famed Cathedral of Basketball.

“The fact that we were able to pull it off in a very challenging college basketball scheduling environment is a credit to the ADs, coaches and conference commissioners, all of whom displayed tremendous perseverance and flexibility.”

When the Palestra last hosted an event of this magnitude 11 seasons ago, the Red and Blue beat the Explorers, 78-67, en route to a 20-9 record and their third Ivy League title in four years. The Owls eked past Villanova, 53-52, and — in order to make the evening a City Six event — the Hawks and Drexel took part in a third affair, a 57-49 Dragons victory.

“This is how Philadelphia first fell in love with college basketball, by seeing two great games and four great teams in one night in what I think is the most intimate setting to watch a game, the Palestra,” Penn coach Steve Donahue said. “January 20 should be an incredible evening for college basketball fans, and we are so excited to be a part of it and have the classic ‘Big 5 Doubleheader’ return to the Palestra.”

“Big 5 games in the Palestra are some of the best experiences I have had in coaching,” La Salle coach John Giannini added. “The great competition, the venue, the tradition, the rivalries and the loud, passionate, split crowds create a most unique environment.”

The announcement of the Big 5 doubleheader brings along with it the first confirmation of a game on the Quakers’ 2015-16 schedule by Penn Athletics. According to ESPN.com, the Red and Blue are also slated to host Central Connecticut on Nov. 15 and Binghamton on Jan. 2, while traveling to George Mason on Dec. 5. However, the squad’s full slate of contests for Donahue’s first campaign at the helm has yet to be announced.

Beyond its four Big 5 matchups and three nonconference foes already revealed, it remains to be seen whether or not Penn manages to schedule a top-tier opponent prior to the beginning of the Ancient Eight season. Even if the Quakers do so, they won’t be the only ones facing off against challenging competition.

Fresh off its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, Harvard will venture westward for a Dec. 5 date with perennial power Kansas. A year after clinching its first Ivy title in 13 years, the Crimson’s main rival, Yale, will visit defending national champion Duke on Nov. 25, as well as Southern California on Dec. 13.

Around the rest of the Ivy League, several other nonconference battles — although less intriguing than the Big 5 doubleheader — have been confirmed. Brown will take on SMU in late November; Cornell has a Nov. 13 affair slated against Georgia Tech in Atlanta; and Columbia and Princeton both have dates with Big Ten foes, as the Lions travel to Illinois to take on Northwestern on Nov. 20 while the Tigers will host Maryland almost a month later.

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