Villanova, Penn men's basketball teams earn spots in NCAA Tournament
After years of not having the Big 5 represented, two Philadelphia men's basketball programs are back in the NCAA Tournament.
The Villanova men's basketball team is heading back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright retired, and the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team punched its ticket to the tournament after winning the Ivy League championship Sunday.
For the past three seasons, the Big 5 schools failed to make March Madness, but that ended Sunday with Penn and Villanova both heading back to the tournament.
The Wildcats (24-8) are a No. 8 seed and will face No. 9 seed Utah State on Friday in the first round of the West Region in San Diego. The Aggies received an automatic bid to the tournament after beating San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference tournament.
Villanova missed the NCAA Tournament for three straight seasons under former head coach Kyle Neptune, who replaced Wright. But in his first season on the Main Line, Kevin Willard has the Wildcats back in the Big Dance.
Willard, who previously coached at the University of Maryland before taking the 'Nova job, helped the Wildcats finish third in the Big East behind St. John's and UConn in the regular season.
The winner of the Villanova-Utah State first-round game will face the winner of No. 1 seed Arizona and No. 16 seed Long Island in the second round.
Penn heading back to NCAA Tournament after winning Ivy League championship
Penn will be a No. 14 seed and play No. 3 seed Illinois in the South Region Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina.
The Quakers won the Ivy League championship Sunday over Yale, 88-84, in overtime as TJ Power scored an Ivy Madness-record 44 points. It will be the first time Penn has been in the tournament since 2018, and they're doing it in Fran McCaffery's first-year at the helm.
McCaffery, a Penn alumnus and Philadelphia native, took over at his alma-mater last year after 15 years at Iowa, where he left as the program's all-time wins leader and longest-tenured coach in program history. Penn will be the fifth program McCaffery is taking the tournament.
Lehigh men's basketball to play in First Four game
The Lehigh men's basketball team will play Prairie View in a First Four game Wednesday night. The winner will be a No. 16 seed and play no. 1 seed Florida in the South Region.
The Mountain Hawks won the Patriot League last week over Boston University.
Villanova, Princeton women's teams earn March Madness bids
Like the men's team, the Villanova women's basketball team made it to the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 10 seed Wildcats will face No. 7 seed Texas Tech University on Friday in the first round of Regional 2.
The Princeton women's team is also in the same region as Villanova. The No. 9 seed Tigers will play No. 8 seed Oklahoma State University Saturday in the first round.
