Explore every episode of the podcast The Big 5 Pod
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NCAA Tournament Expansion, St Joe's Hires La Salle's AD and a Transfer Portal Roundup | 08 May 2026 | 01:21:04 | |
A few HUGE news items to go over in this episode, headlined by the move we all saw coming: the NCAA Tournament expanding to 76 teams. Plus, we discuss St. Joe's hiring AD Ash Puri away from La Salle, and a catch up on all things transfer portal. | |||
| Big 5 Transfer News as the Portal Rolls On | 10 Apr 2026 | 01:20:27 | |
On to the transfer portal we go! We go over players from Big 5 teams who have entered the portal already, including Villanova star freshman Acaden Lewis and Temple's Aiden Tobiason. We also discuss who is staying and one commitment so far, in addition to catching up on other Big 5 news throughout the last few weeks. | |||
| 2026 NCAA Tournament Recap, Reactions To Penn and Villanova's Early Exits | 08 Apr 2026 | 01:07:38 | |
The 2025-26 college basketball season has officially come to a close, following Michigan's win over UConn to in the National Championship. We discuss everything that happened in this year's NCAA Tournament, including Penn and Villanova's losses in the First Round. | |||
| Penn NCAA Tournament Preview w/Conor Smith; Plus Villanova Preview, March Madness Predictions | 19 Mar 2026 | 01:15:51 | |
March Madness is here, and the streak of Big 5 teams missing the tournament is finally over! We bring on Conor Smith to preview Penn's first round matchup with Illinois, before detailing Villanova's return to the tournament as they take on Utah State on Friday. Plus, we give our picks and predictions on the rest of March Madness! | |||
| Ranking Each Big 5 Team's NCAA Tournament Chances On The First Episode of March | 03 Mar 2026 | 01:11:03 | |
It's officially March! The guys rank each Big 5 team on how likely they are to make the NCAA Tournament, (besides Villanova), before turning their attention to the Wildcats and their outlook for the rest of the season after the injury to Matt Hodge. | |||
| Hawk Talk Podcast Joins Us To Talk St. Joe's AD Search, Recent A10 Play and More | 18 Feb 2026 | 01:03:06 | |
Pete and Tony from Hawk Talk Podcast join us to discuss the massive St. Joe's news that broke last week, with Athletic Director Jill Bodensteiner leaving Hawk Hill to be the Commissioner of the Horizon League. We go over the impact on this year and beyond, plus St. Joe's on court performance over the last week and much more. | |||
| St Joe's Continues Hot Streak, Penn's Ivy Outlook and a Fun Villanova/Temple Question | 06 Feb 2026 | 00:55:41 | |
We're onto February and the Big 5 is looking the best they have in years in conference play. St. Joe's has won 7 of their last 8 games and is in a top four spot in their conference, as is Temple and Drexel in the American and CAA, respectively. Villanova leads the pack at 8-3 in the Big East, good for third in the conference, while Penn is just outside the top four in the Ivy League. All of these teams will be looking to make runs in their conference tournaments in just about a month! | |||
| The Martelli Conundrum, La Salle's 2-0 Week and the Wide Open Ivy League | 23 Jan 2026 | 01:18:50 | |
It was a very busy week in the Big 5 play, with every team playing two games since our last episode except Drexel. Cope was down in Richmond on Monday for VCU-St. Joe's where he got to ask Phil Martelli Jr. about the connection between his family and the school. Kyle was also at La Salle and Temple, with the Explorers having the best week in the Big 5 with their wins over St. Bonaventure and Dayton. Plus more on Penn's chances in the Ivy League and Villanova staying steady in the Big East! | |||
| Which Big 5 Teams Have Impressed So Far In Conference Play? | 17 Jan 2026 | 01:07:39 | |
It's our first episode of conference play, and we go over who is doing well so far and who is not. This includes Villanova looking like a tournament team, Temple making noise in the American, and a pair of teams on a three-game conference win streak. | |||
| New Year's Resolutions For Every Big 5 Team In 2026 | 31 Dec 2025 | 01:19:19 | |
It's our last episode of 2025, so we decided to give out New Year's resolutions for all six Big 5 teams heading into 2026. Plus, we go over Villanova's win at Seton Hall, Deuce Jones's dismissal from St. Joe's, the craziness of the NCAA transfer portal and much more! | |||
| Villanova Dominates for 29th Big 5 Title | Big 5 Classic Recap | 09 Dec 2025 | 01:11:31 | |
The Big 5 Classic has come and gone, and it saw Villanova dominate Penn for it's 29 all-time Big 5 title. Plus, Deuce Jones lifted St. Joe's on a buzzer beater over Temple in the third-place game, and La Salle held off Drexel in the fifth-place game. We also review the current status of the event, which is experiencing a decline in attendance again this year. | |||
| Big 5 Classic Preview and Predictions, Event Talk with Mike Sulkes | 05 Dec 2025 | 01:19:55 | |
It's time for our Super Bowl! The Big 5 Classic is just a day away, and the field is set: Drexel vs. La Salle, Saint Joseph's vs. Temple and Penn vs Villanova for the Big 5 Championship. We preview all of these matches, plus talk to the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Xfinity Mobile Arena, Mike Sulkes, to hear how the event comes together behind the scenes and much more! | |||
| Penn Reaches Big 5 Championship, Villanova vs. Temple Preview | 28 Nov 2025 | 00:54:00 | |
Penn is officially in the Big 5 Classic Championship game after their 84-68 win at Drexel last week. They'll be met by the winner of the last Big 5 pod play game, as Temple takes on Villanova on Monday. Plus, Penn hosts La Salle in the Cathedral Classic at the Palestra and other results from around the Big 5 this week! | |||
| Penn On Verge of Big 5 Championship Game, Preview vs Drexel With Conor Smith | 21 Nov 2025 | 01:13:23 | |
Penn pulled off a big upset this week, knocking off St. Joe's on Monday and putting themselves in the driver's seat to make their first-ever Big 5 Championship game. To do so, they'll have to beat Drexel at the DAC on Friday night, and we called on Conor Smith to help us preview that matchup. Plus, we go over Villanova beating La Salle and other Big 5 results from the last week. | |||
| Big 5 Basketball Is Officially BACK! | 12 Nov 2025 | 00:45:35 | |
The Big 5 season is officially underway! We go over the results of the first week of the season, including St. Joe's beating Drexel in the first Big 5 game of the season. Plus, a look at which games we're excited to see for the upcoming week. | |||
| Big 5 Season Preview With Aaron Bracy | 03 Nov 2025 | 00:58:19 | |
The season is finally here! For one last preview, we call on our friend Aaron Bracy to help us break down who will take home city bragging rights as the Big 5 champions this season. Plus, we give our picks for Big 5 Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and X-Factor. | |||
| La Salle, Saint Joseph's and A10 Preview with Tyler Cronin | 31 Oct 2025 | 00:48:55 | |
Tyler Cronin of 3 Bid League joins us to take a deep dive into the Big 5's two A10 teams, La Salle and St. Joseph's, before giving us his thoughts on who will finish at the top of the conference once March rolls around. | |||
| Temple, American Conference Preview With Luke Taylor | 30 Oct 2025 | 01:05:13 | |
Luke Taylor of the Full Court Network joins us once again to share his thoughts on the upcoming Temple basketball season. This includes breaking down all of their new transfers and predicting where they may finish in the American Conference, before discussing the other conference contenders. | |||
| Villanova, Big East Preview With Tommy Godin | 29 Oct 2025 | 00:59:15 | |
Tommy Godin of The Full 40 Podcast joins us to discuss the start of another new era in the Big 5, this time with Kevin Willard and the Villanova Wildcats as they look to get back to being one of the premier teams in the Big East again this season. | |||
| Penn, Ivy League Preview With Ian Wenik | 28 Oct 2025 | 00:56:02 | |
Ian Wenik helps us break down what Penn needs to do to get back to Ivy League contention in 2025-26, this time with Fran McCaffrey at the helm. | |||
| Drexel, CAA Preview With Riley Frain | Big 5 Pod Episode 128 | 27 Oct 2025 | 00:59:46 | |
Riley Frain joins us for our first preview of the 2025-26 season, where we dive into Drexel's roster, where we think they'll finish in the CAA and preview the conference as a whole. | |||
| Saint Joseph's Players Anthony Finkley & Derek Simpson Join The Pod! | 08 Oct 2025 | 00:34:27 | |
Saint Joseph's forward Anthony Finkley and guard Derek Simpson join the pod to discuss how they've grown in their roles on the team, being leaders heading into the season, and who on this year's team can be difference makers on Hawk Hill! | |||
| Billy Lange Steps Down As St. Joes Head Coach; Steve Donahue Named Permanent Replacement | 11 Sep 2025 | 00:47:26 | |
Tyler Cronin from 3 Big League joins us for an emergency episode, as Billy Lange has stepped down as the Head Coach of St. Joe's to take a player development job with the New York Knicks. To replace him, Steve Donahue was named the permanent head coach, and we break down what it all means for St. Joe's this year and beyond. | |||
| Zach Spiker Talks Drexel in the Big 5, Player Development and the Upcoming Dragon's Season! | 20 Aug 2025 | 01:04:58 | |
Drexel Head Coach Zack Spiker joins the pod to talk about how it's been for the Drexel program to finally be in the Big 5, his role in player development, and his thoughts ahead of the 2025-26 Drexel season! | |||
| Steve Donahue On Coming To St. Joe's, His Big 5 Upbringing and This Year's Hawks Team! | 24 Jul 2025 | 01:02:42 | |
St. Joe's Associate Head Coach Steve Donahue joins the pod to tell us how he's adjusting to life on Hawk Hill, his excitement for this year's St. Joe's roster, how he became a Big 5 fan for life as a kid and much more! | |||
| Shane Blakeney on Being A Leader, Being In The Big 5 And Drexel's Upcoming Season! | 16 Jul 2025 | 00:42:12 | |
Drexel guard Shane Blakeney joins the pod as he gets ready for his 4th season in University City, where he'll be entering the 2025-26 season as one of Drexel's leaders on and off the court. We discuss Shane's upbringing in basketball, his journey to becoming a leader, what it's been like being in the Big 5, his expectations for this season, and much more! | |||
| NCAA House Settlement Discussion With Jonathan Tannenwald | 13 Jun 2025 | 00:52:15 | |
Jonathan Tannenwald of the Philadelphia Inquirer joins us to discuss the groundbreaking settlement between the House and the NCAA over NIL regulations and how it will affect Big 5 teams and college basketball as a whole. | |||
| Darris Nichols on Coming To La Salle, His Coaching Style, Recruiting and More! | 06 Jun 2025 | 01:06:29 | |
A milestone episode for us here at the Big 5 Pod. We're joined by our first-ever active Big 5 head coach, La Salle Head Coach Darris Nichols! Coach Nichols talked with us about his excitement in taking the La Salle job, his coaching style, recruiting in the NIL and transfer portal world and much more! | |||
| Tristan Spurlock Talks Upcoming Season, His Path To Coaching and More! | 15 May 2025 | 01:06:19 | |
We're joined by Penn Assistant Coach Tristan Spurlock as he talks about how he got into coaching after a long college and overseas career, his favorite Fran McCaffrey stories, his expectations for the 2025-26 Penn Quakers and more! | |||
| Saint Joseph's Has New Backcourt, Villanova's Roster Taking Shape - Big 5 Pod Episode 119 | 25 Apr 2025 | 00:46:21 | |
The transfer portal is officially closed, but that doesn't mean the player movement in college basketball is done just yet! We go over Deuce Jones transferring from Saint Joseph's to La Salle, Villanova landing a trio of players and other commitments to Big 5 schools. | |||
| Xzayvier Brown Leaves Hawk Hill, Other Big 5 Transfer Portal News - Big 5 Pod Episode 118 | 18 Apr 2025 | 00:50:42 | |
The transfer portal closes in just a few days, but there's no slowing down of names leaving and entering schools. This includes Xzayvier Brown, who, along with Associate Head Coach Justin Scott, will be leaving St. Joe's to go to Oklahoma. Plus, the guys discuss other transfer portal news around the Big 5 and what impact it could have on the upcoming season. | |||
| Florida Wins National Championship, Villanova introduces Kevin Willard - Big 5 Pod Episode 117 | 11 Apr 2025 | 01:00:08 | |
The 2024-25 college basketball season is officially over. We recap arguably the most exciting Final Four in recent memory, culminating in Florida winning its third national championship. We also discuss Kevin Willard being officially introduced as Villanova's head coach, Big 5 transfer news and more! | |||
| Shizz Alston Jr Talks Temple Basketball, NIL and His Favorite College Memories - Big 5 Pod Ep 116 | 04 Apr 2025 | 01:06:17 | |
Shizz Alston, Jr. joins the pod to discuss all things Temple basketball, including how the program can improve in this new era of NIL and the transfer portal. Plus, we talk about his favorite college memories and answer fan-submitted questions. And yes, we talk about Villanova hiring Kevin Willard as their next head coach as well. | |||
| La Salle, Penn Make Coaching Hires, March Madness Rolls On - Big 5 Pod Episode 115 | 28 Mar 2025 | 01:01:06 | |
It's our last episode of March, and we have a TON to go over in both the Big 5 and nationally in college basketball. La Salle and Penn both made new coaching hires, the transfer portal has opened and some surprise names have entered from the Big 5. Plus, we go over what's happened so far during March Madness and take a look at a potential new coach for Villanova. | |||
| Conference Tournaments Underway, Drexel Eliminated, and a Coaching Change For Penn - Big 5 Pod | 11 Mar 2025 | 00:54:48 | |
March is in full swing, and the Big 5 is as busy as ever. We go over Penn parting ways with Head Coach Steve Donahue, Drexel's season ending in the CAA Tournament and preview the rest of the conference tournaments for Big 5 teams. | |||
| March Is Upon Us As Postseason Looms For Big 5 Teams - Big 5 Pod Episode 112 | 06 Mar 2025 | 00:50:35 | |
March is here! The guys break down what that means for the teams in the Big 5, as postseason play is here for one team already (Drexel) and is just around the corner for the rest of the teams. It's the best time of year! | |||
| Fran Dunphy Announces Retirement, Villanova Back On Bubble Watch? - Big 5 Pod Episode 111 | 25 Feb 2025 | 00:48:34 | |
It was a much better week for the Big 5 this week but the big news wasn't about what was happening on the court, rather who was leaving it. La Salle Head Coach and Mr. Big 5 himself, Fran Dunphy, announced that he will be retiring from coaching at season's end. We walk about what he meant to Big 5 basketball, Villanova's bubble chances after their win over Marquette, Penn being eliminated from Ivy League Madness and much more! | |||
| A Somber Episode After A Disastrous Week of Big 5 Play - Big 5 Pod Episode 110 | 19 Feb 2025 | 01:00:26 | |
It was a brutal week of play in the Big 5, which saw the teams go 0-9 from Thursday-Tuesday, and with Villanova grabbing the only two wins outside of the Saint Joseph's-La Salle game since Sunday, 2/9. With just 5 or 6 games left in each team's season, can they turn it around just in time for March? | |||
| Villanova's Good Form, Erik Reynolds II's Scoring Record Chase And More - Big 5 Pod Episode 109 | 16 Feb 2025 | 00:36:02 | |
It's the stretch run of conference play, where each game becomes more important than the last and bubbles start to shrink. We talk about Villaova's good form as of late, Erik Reynolds II moving into second place on Saint Joseph's all-time leading scorers list, and much more from around the Big 5 | |||
| Temple On The Rise, St Joe's Struggles and Villanova's Fall From The Bubble - Big 5 Pod Ep 108 | 05 Feb 2025 | 00:52:31 | |
We're back! After a couple weeks off, we go over all that's happened in the Big 5 as the calendar turned to February. This includes Temple's steady play, St. Joe's struggles once again in Atlantic 10 play, Villanova falling from bubble contention and much, much more. | |||
| Villanova Upsets UConn At Home, Deuce Jones Downs Bonnies at the Buzzer - Big 5 Pod Ep 107 | 14 Jan 2025 | 00:32:33 | |
Another week passes with even more chaos in the Big 5! Villanova upset #9 UConn at The Finn on Wednesday, followed by a hard-fought loss to St. John's at MSG on Saturday. La Salle's Deuce Jones had the play of the week in the sport as well, with his buzzer-beater over St. Bonaventure. Plus, we discuss Saint Joseph's, Drexel and Penn's down weeks, and Temple losing a key player. | |||
| Villanova Continues Hot Streak, Temple Starts AAC Play Strong - Big 5 Pod Episode 106 | 08 Jan 2025 | 00:45:23 | |
Conference play is in full swing as the calendar turns to January! We go over Villanova's continued hot streak, Temple starting off AAC play with a home win, Saint Joseph's up-and-down A-10 start and much more. | |||
| Tristan Freeman of Busting Brackets Talks A-10, Big East Conferences - Big 5 Pod Episode 105 | 31 Dec 2024 | 00:44:20 | |
Tristan Freeman of Busting Brackets and The Field of 68 joins the pod to discuss the opening of conference play in the A-10 and the Big East, including where he thinks Saint Joseph's, La Salle and Villanova will finish in conference play this season. | |||
| St Joe's Wins Big 5 Championship, NCAA Tournament Field Expanding? - Big 5 Pod Episode 104 | 13 Dec 2024 | 01:03:57 | |
The guys go over everything involving Saturday's Big 5 Classic, culminating in a second straight Big 5 championship for St. Joe's. They also go over other games from the Big 5 Classic, games from earlier this week, the Big 5 Pods changing for next season and the nationwide talk of the potential NCAA Tournament expansion. | |||
| Big 5 Classic Preview With Phil Martelli & Jared Phillips - Big 5 Pod Episode 103 | 05 Dec 2024 | 01:15:46 | |
Big 5 legend Phil Martelli and Jared Phillips of the Make A Difference Pod join the pod to help preview the Big 5 Classic at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. They also discuss what their podcast is all about, and how important family and giving back is to them. | |||
| La Salle Earns Spot In Big 5 Championship vs St Joe's - Big 5 Pod Episode 102 | 03 Dec 2024 | 00:41:56 | |
Jake Copestick and Kyle Morello discuss La Salle beating Temple on Saturday, earning themselves a spot in the Big 5 Championship game vs A10 and city rival St. Joe's. Plus, we go over all the MTE (multi-team events) that the rest of the Big 5 schools played in during Feast Week. | |||
| St Joe's Clinches Big 5 Championship Spot After 2-0 Week - Big 5 Pod Episode 101 | 21 Nov 2024 | 00:42:56 | |
Big 5 pod play kicked off this week, with St. Joe's clinching a chance to defend their Big 5 title with a 2-0 week against Villanova and Penn. Plus, the guys go over the other Big 5 games and what to look out for this coming week. | |||
| Glaser Arena Opens, Historic Opening Day and Two Bad Losses In First Week - Big 5 Pod Episode 100 | 11 Nov 2024 | 00:35:31 | |
Episode 100 is here! The guys kick off the season with their centennial episode, going over a historic 6-0 night to start the season, Glaser Arena's opening night, and two bad losses for two talented teams in the season's opening week! | |||
| 2024-25 Big 5 Season Preview With Aaron Bracy - Big 5 Pod Episode 99 | 04 Nov 2024 | 00:46:56 | |
The 2024-25 College Basketball season is here! Aaron Bracy of Big5Hoops.com joins the pod to preview the Big 5, including which teams have the best chance to make the NCAA Tournament, our awards predictions and who will win the Big 5! | |||
| Big East Preview With Tommy Godin - Big 5 Pod Episode 98 | 03 Nov 2024 | 00:50:55 | |
Tommy Godin of The Main Line Minute joins the pod to discuss how Villanova stacks up against a loaded Big East heading into the 2024-25 season! | |||