NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early Big 5 power rankings for 2019-20

Here’s an early look at how the Big 5 basketball schools could stack up against each other in the 2019-20 NCAA Basketball season.

The NCAA Basketball season just wrapped a few weeks ago, but it’s never too early to look ahead to November and speculate about what next year might hold. With so much moving and shaking going on in Big 5 basketball this off-season, we thought it might be helpful to condense what’s been a crazy few weeks in Philadelphia, and take a look at how these squads might stack up against each other in 2019-20.

This past season, like most, offered plenty of surprises and drama in Big 5 basketball; Villanova was finally knocked from its perch as city champions after six years, losing their first Big 5 game since 2012, and underdog Penn rode upset after upset to a sweep of their Philly rivals. The Quakers won their first Big 5 title since 2002, and ended a handful of long droughts in the process.

Philly hoops fans wanted for nothing in Big 5 play a season ago. From Penn barely escaping a miraculous Villanova comeback in the final few possessions of their game at the Palestra, to the Quakers stunning Temple in a rocking Liacouras Center a month later, Temple blowing a second half lead at the Pavilion against Villanova in December, and Penn clinching the outright title in front of a split crowd at the Palestra against St. Joe’s, there was plenty of the usual drama in a memorable year of city basketball.

This off-season has already been as eventful and tumultuous as any in recent memory. Phil Martelli was abruptly terminated at St. Joe’s following the 2018-19 season, resulting in an exodus of the team’s best players. La Salle also saw five players opt to leave the program after Ash Howard’s first season with the Explorers. Temple formally introduced Aaron McKie as its head basketball coach, and most of the top players in the Big 5, including Shizz Alston Jr., Villanova duo Phil Booth and Eric Paschall, Charlie Brown, Pookie Powell, and Fresh Kimble, have left their programs, either by graduating, transferring, or declaring for the NBA draft.

The Big 5 will certainly look much different next year, both in terms of personnel and respective talent levels. It might be a strange, and for some, a sad season without cornerstone personalities like Phil Martelli and Fran Dunphy on the sidelines. But, basketball will go on, and Big 5 basketball will continue to be celebrated into this new and exciting era.

With that, let’s take a shot at projecting next year’s power rankings, ranking all five schools – plus everyone’s favorite gray area, Drexel – as they head towards the 2019-20 season.