PHILADELPHIA BIG 5: Future of Big 5 remains unclear

The guardian of the Big 5 sits in a small office adjacent to the cathedral of college basketball uncertain about the future. There are photos on the wall of a bygone era of Philadelphia hoops in Dan Baker's Hutchinson Gymnasium office. There is also writing on the wall: Baker, executive secretary of the Big 5, knows the league of Philly schools enjoys only a fraction of its former glory. "Unfortunately, we don't have the kind of clout we once did. And in the absence of a full round-robin, we're not likely to get it back," he says. "What this office does is perpetuate the tradition.?But it's unfortunate that without the round-robin in place, we really can't determine an annual champion. Not with what currently exists. Maybe there's a way to address that." The fate of the league celebrating 40 years of history rests in the hands of the athletic directors at La Salle, Pennsylvania, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova. They will meet with Baker after this season to negotiate a new contract to replace the one that expires after the 1995-96 campaign. In truth, the fate rests largely with Villanova. Baker says the other schools favor restoring the round-robin, four-game format that existed until 'Nova escaped from its obligation through a clause in the agreement in 1991. With the addition of Miami to the Big East, Villanova had two more conference games. Villanova insisted on a reduction of four to two Big 5 games per year. "It's a matter of whether it's feasible for us in the situation we're in now to go any further than we're in," Villanova coach Steve Lappas says. "It's out of necessities of life that you do a lot of things. It's not out of desire a lot of the time. Eighteen games in the league, wanting to play on national television -- all those things have become factors in the 1990s." Baker, who oversees the everyday activities of the Big 5, says the league will likely remain in a form similar to the present, with Villanova playing its two games per year. He agrees the Big 5 is a victim of changing times in college basketball. "The critics were failing to take into consideration the change that was going on in college basketball , with the emergence of the big conferences and the importance of the NCAA tournament and the amount of money that teams could make by being selected for the tournament," Baker says. "So there was a lot of pressure on the schools. In some ways what occurred was inevitable." There are options though, Baker says, realizing Villanova will not resume playing four Big 5 games per year. · Drexel may be brought in to play the two games Villanova does not. But Baker says that would mean two of the six Philly teams would only be playing a pair of games, and determining a champion would be a problem. · Drexel may be invited and two three-team divisions formed, with an extra third game for the champions. · Or Drexel may just replace Villanova and the original round-robin format restored. · The final option, other than the status quo, is for La Salle, Penn, St. Joe's and Temple to play a three-game format. "The essence of the Big 5 is the round-robin schedule, which is how we can determine the champion," Baker says. "Without that in place, it really dilutes the concept of a Big 5 champion." La Salle will join Temple and St. Joe's in the Atlantic 10 next season. The new A-10 will have two divisions, with Temple and St. Joe's in one division and playing each other twice per season as they do currently. La Salle will likely end up in the other division and play Temple and St. Joe's one time per year, regardless of the Big 5 obligation. "When we played it was a round-robin. Now it's just two teams play and that's it," former Temple star Guy Rodgers says. "To me, even though we talk about the past, we should be talking about the present and the future with a round-robin. I would like to see the five athletic directors and presidents get together and make it something that goes on and on. Forty years is great, but 140 years would be better. I just want to see it go on."