Yesterday was one of those days you don’t forget in the city of Philadelphia. Not just one but three teams from the Big Five are going to the NCAA Tournament. With that being said college basketball is back in the city of Philadelphia. While Temple and Villanova are used to going to the big dance, the newcomers invited to the party are the La Salle Explorers. Head coach Dr. John Giannini has led his squad back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 21 years.
But for all these teams it will be tough to win a game in the NCAA Tournament. La Salle will be the first team out of the city to play on Wednesday night in the 13 seed play in game versus Boise State out the Mountain West conference. Game time is slated for 9:10 pm.
This will be the first time in a while that the Explorers are playing with the nation watching them and that could only mean good things to come. Expect this to be a good 13 seed game as I definitely think the Explorers can and will compete with the Boise State Broncos. If La Salle wins they will play on Friday against the fourth seed Kansas State.
Now the second team out of the Big Five that will be playing next is the Temple Owls, who play on Friday afternoon at 1:40 pm against NC State. Temple is coming in as the 9th seed and NC State will be the 8th seed in the East region bracket. Again, I expect this one to be a good one as both teams has a NBA talent on them.
For Temple, it’s Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Khalif Wyatt and for NC State it’s C.J. Leslie, both players people should have their eyes on in the game. If Temple can beat NC State which will be tough they have to take on the number one seed Indiana Hoosiers. But we will all cross that bridge when we get there.
Finally, the last team out of the Big Five that will be playing is the young, upstart Villanova Wildcats. The Cats had a phenomenal season and look to keep it going in the NCAA Tournament. Nova will take on the North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday night at 7:20 pm in the South region bracket.
Villanova is the ninth seed and UNC is the eighth seed. I actually think this is a toss up game because this is not a dominant UNC team and this is a young Wildcats team that seems to pull upsets when we all least expect it. So I believe Villanova will give North Carolina a run for their money.
Lastly, I cannot forget about the St. Joes Hawks who made the NIT last night as the fourth seed and they will take on the fifth seed St. John’s Red Storm. This will be a home game for the Hawks and it can be seen tomorrow night at 7:00 pm on ESPNU. If SJU gets past St. John’s, they will take on the winner of Virginia versus Norfolk State.
Make sure to keep checking back here as we will have the latest game previews, recaps, and stories for all these games as we all hope our Big Five teams go far in the NCAA/NIT Tournament.
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