Villanova Wildcats open 2015 as Best of Big 5

College football is over.  (Congrats to Ohio State, and you all suck for making me eat crow about Ohio State not belonging there.)

The NFL season is not far from over.  (Take Indianapolis +7 against New England this weekend.  Just do it.  Trust me.)

Those two bits of information lead to one thing for me.  It’s time to get in FULL BASKETBALL MODE — both the NBA and NCAA.  Total Sports Live happens to be founded in the great city of Philadelphia where we have our own basketball conference.  Sure, it’s a made up conference, but let’s not argue semantics.  The Big 5 has been a Philadelphia tradition since 1954 when University of Pennsylvania president Dr. Gaylord Harnwell announced the “formation” of the conference at Penn’s Houston Hall.

There have been a collection of great teams and great players, and those traditions are still alive today.  Before Total Sports Live, I took it upon myself to argue the power rankings of the Big 5 teams.  No one really read it because it was on my personal website, but now that I’m writing for TSL, why deprive people of it?  (I know.  It’s very pretentious to say something like that, but it’s part of my charm.  If you’ve been reading my stuff, you should be used to it by now.)

Without further rambling and nonsense, here is the first issue of the TSL Big 5 Power Rankings.

1. #5 Villanova Wildcats (15-1, 3-1 in Big East, 3-0 in Big 5)
Last Week: W vs. DePaul
This Week: Xavier, Pennsylvania, Georgetown

How does that old saying go?  “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  I’ve moved sites to TSL, but the Villanova Wildcats are still the cream of the Big 5 crop.  It’s hard to get knocked off the pedestal when you return most of your starting roster and guys like JayVaughn Pinkston and Daniel Ochefu seem to have made a jump.  Darrun Hilliard II averages 13.5 ppg for the ‘Cats and shoots close to 40-percent from three.  Ryan Arcidiacano is still steady at the point, so Villanova just keeps on doing what they do.

2. Temple Owls (12-5, 3-1 in American Athletic Conference, 2-2 in Big 5)
Last Week: W vs. Tulane, L @ Tulsa
This Week: SMU, Cincinnati

After the Owls finished 9-22 last season, did anyone really think Temple was going to make a lot of noise this season?  It’s okay if that was your thought process because that was mine, too.  Behold, here we are and they’re 12-5 and have an impressive win against the Kansas Jayhawks — who were ranked 10th at the time.  Temple’s doing it with the back court in Quenton DeCosey, Will Cummings, and Jesse Morgan.  Jaylen Bond, a transfer from Texas, is providing some decent inside work, but his 25-percent FT percentage will definitely be a problem.  Until then, these Owls are flying high.  Before their loss to Tulsa, they had won six straight.

3. La Salle Explorers (9-7, 1-2 in Atlantic 10, 1-2 in Big 5)
Last Week: L vs. Massachusetts, W vs. George Washington
This Week: Dayton, Fordham

Last season, the Explorers lost Ramon Galloway.  This season, they lost Tyrone Garland.  (They lost them to the NBA and the D-League, not injuries.)  This season, you’re seeing the effects.  La Salle still has a very intriguing prospect in sophomore Jordan Price who is averaging 17.3 ppg in his first full season with the team after coming over from Auburn.  Where he goes, this team goes.  The Explorers beat Towson behind Price’s 31 points and lost to George Mason because he only scored 2.  One can hope he gets his turnover numbers down — as he averages 3.2 as opposed to his 2.6 assists.

4. Saint Joseph’s Hawks (6-8, 0-3 in Atlantic 10, 1-1 in Big 5)
Last Week: L @ Duquesne, L @ VCU
This Week: Fordham, St. Bonaventure, Massachusetts

While the Temple Owls beat you up from the outside with their back court, the Hawks are beating people up inside with their front court.  Isaiah Miles (10.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Aaron Brown (10.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg), and DeAndre Bembrey (16.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg) — who has the best afro in college basketball right now — provide St. Joe’s with some pretty decent punch down low.  Now, if they can only get something substantial from their back court to offset that.  The Hawks are on a current four-game losing streak, and lost to VCU by 15.  Two of their next three games are very winnable, however.

5. Pennsylvania Quakers (3-8, 0-1 in Ivy League, 0-2 in Big 5)
Last Week: L @ Princeton
This Week: Villanova, Monmouth

You know.  I tried to play nice with UPenn last year and try not to say anything TOO bad.  I treat the Quakers in the same way an 0-16 youth soccer team gets treated by adults.  They’re told that they should be proud for trying, and they’re handed a trophy.  That’s more or less all I can say without just getting flat out mean.  I do like guard Patrick Lucas-Perry (15.0 ppg), but I’d like him a lot better if he didn’t average six turnovers per game.  Penn played Princeton tough and only lost by four, but there’s a decent possibility that their next Big 5 game — this week vs. Villanova — could yield a 20+ point blowout.