The Big 5 will adopt a new format for women’s basketball for the Philadelphia City 6 schools, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday morning. An official announcement will come at a press conference Thursday morning at Villanova’s Finneran Pavilion.
The City 6 schools, which consist of Temple University, Drexel University, Villanova University, La Salle University, Saint Joseph’s University and the University of Pennsylvania, will be split into two pods of three-teams that will play early in the season.
The winners will play in a championship game as part of a triple-header, with third and fifth-place games to be played before that at Finneran’s Pavilion on a date to be determined. This will be the first season Drexel is an official member of the women’s basketball Big 5.
The announcement comes just one year after the Big 5 adopted the same format for men’s basketball, with a triple-header championship game played at Wells Fargo Center. Saint Joe’s won the inaugural championship game, defeating Temple 74-65 on Dec 2.
The women’s pods will mirror the men’s, with Penn, Saint Joe’s and Villanova in one and Temple, La Salle and Drexel in the other. Saint Joe’s won the Big 5 last season, going 4-0 in the old round-robin style.
Along with the change of format, the Big 5 will also announce updates to leadership during the press conference.