In 50 years of Big 5 basketball, just about everything that could happen has happened, with one exception.
Never in that time have all five City Series teams made the postseason in the same year.
That streak was in serious jeopardy this week, but it will last at least another season. Just like last year: Penn and Villanova are headed to the NCAA Tournament, Saint Joseph's and Temple are headed to the NIT and La Salle will only be able to watch it all on television.
The spotlight will be brightest on Villanova. As the top seed in the Minneapolis region, the Wildcats will play the first two rounds at their home away from home, the Wachovia Center.
The Wildcats will tip off Friday afternoon against the winner of tonight's play-in game between Monmouth and Hampton and after that they will face either Arizona or Wisconsin.
Wright said that his team would "stay on campus as long as [it] can," but that it would stay in a hotel tomorrow night.
"We won't sequester" the players, he added.
This being Philadelphia, there is plenty of pressure on Villanova to make the Final Four at the very least, but not from Wright, however.
"I want to make sure that our guys don't feel that because they are the No. 1 seed, the only success they can have is going to the Final Four," he said. "I want them to enjoy each game, concentrate on one game at a time, one weekend at a time."
St. Joe's very nearly made it to the Big Dance and had the Hawks qualified, it would have almost surely been more impressive than any of their recent, more celebrated postseason trips.
After winning five straight games to close out the regular season, St. Joe's beat Dayton, Saint Louis and Big 5 rival Temple to make it to the Atlantic 10 championship game against Xavier. The Musketeers came out on top, though, as Justin Cage blocked a Dwayne Lee jumper at the buzzer to preserve a 62-61 win.
The Hawks received a bye in the first round of the NIT and will face either Penn State or Rutgers at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on Thursday.
Memories of last year's run to the NIT finals are still fresh on Hawk Hill, and coach Phil Martelli says his team is "playing our best basketball at the end of the year."
For the Hawks to make it to Madison Square Garden again, they will have to win their second-round game, then beat either Hofstra or Nebraska. After that, Colorado and Maryland loom as potential opponents in the quarterfinals.
They will also have to rely on some of their young players, who have carried an increasing part of the load as this season has progressed, especially guard Abdulai Jalloh and forward Rob Ferguson.
"I want that to be a trademark of our program, that our players do improve," Martelli said. "Certainly, that has been the case this year.
As for the Owls, there were high hopes on North Broad Street after they knocked top seed George Washington out in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Once again, though, they couldn't overcome the Hawks and retiring coach John Chaney was denied one last moment in the NCAA Tournament spotlight.
Temple will face Akron in the first round of the NIT tonight at the Liacouras Center. Chaney won't coach, as his wife is in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment. It's not known whether he will coach in later rounds should Temple advance.
Assistant coach Dan Leibovitz will stand in for Chaney. His task won't be easy, though, as Temple will face either Miami or Oklahoma State if it makes it to the second round. In the quarterfinals, the Owls could face Michigan, Notre Dame or Vanderbilt.
La Salle was denied a spot in the National Invitational Tournament despite earning a bye and making the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament last week. Explorers coach John Giannini said that he felt his team deserved better.
"I was disappointed but I wasn't surprised -- I knew it would be close," he said.
Nonetheless, the Explorers posted a winning record for the first time in a dozen years this season, which was an accomplishment in and of itself.
"I thought that in itself was a big first step," Giannini said. "Once we hit 15 [wins] we knew we had done something to turn the program in a significant way, and then we set our sights higher."
For the entire Big 5, there is no better time to set sights high than March.
