Philadelphia: As the calendar turns to November, the best time of the year has arrived and it is the start of the 2019-20 college basketball season. The Penn Quakers are the defending champions of the Philadelphia Big 5.
Let’s take a look at what is going on with the City 6 for the First Week of the college basketball season.
Temple:
After going 23-10 & playing in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament during the 2018-29 season, the Owls will begin a ner era lead by Aaron McKie who takes over Fran Dunphy.
The Owls will open their season November 5 when they take on City rival Drexel and then take on Morgan State on November 9. Both games will be at the Liacouras Center.
Penn:
During the 2018-19 season, the Penn Quakers went 19-12, they won the Big 5 championship which included wins over Temple, Villanova, LaSalle & Saint Joseph’s. The Quakers had to play their way into the Ivy League tournament where they fell to Harvard.
The Quakers will open the 2019-20 season with two road games starting on November 5 at Alabama and then at Rice on November 9.
Saint Joseph’s:
The 2018-19 season for the Hawks was very interesting as they went 14-19 on the season & it also saw the end of a coaching tenure of Phil Martelli & they would bring in Billy Lange to be the new Head Coach for the 2019-20 season.
The Hawks will open the 2019-20 season on November 5 when they take on Bradley at Hagan Arena and they go on the road for battle at Old Dominion on November 10.
LaSalle:
The 2018-19 season was the first for New coach Ashley Howard and they had a lot of learning as they would go 10-21 on the season. What can year two for Ashley Howard bring for the Explorers?
The Explorers will open their 2019-20 season when they take on Iona on November 9 at Tom Gola Arena and then play the Penn Quakers on November 13.
Villanova:
2018-19 season was very interesting on the main line as the Wildcats were the 2018 NCAA champions by going 26-10 and won the Big East Title and would fall to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 2019-20 season will be the 100th season for Villanova Basketball.
The Wildcats will open their 2019-20 season on November 5 when they host Army at Finneran Pavilion and then go on the road for battle against Ohio State on November 13.
Drexel:
The Dragons had an up and down season during 2018-19 which saw them go 13-19 and now the question is what will they do for the 2019-20 season under fourth-year coach Zach Spiker.
The Dragons will open the 2019-20 season with a City 6 battle against Temple Owls on November 5 at Temple and then go against Niagara on November 9 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
So lets the drama begin of the 2019-20 season for College Basketball in the City of Philadelphia.
Philly Sports Blitz 