March 17, 2008
The Saint Joseph's Hawks, Temple Owls, and Villanova Wildcats were all selected by the NCAA tournament committee to take part in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. This is the first time that the Philadelphia Big 5 has had three representatives in the championship tournament since 1998-99 when Penn, Temple, and Villanova all took part.
Saint Joseph's (21-12) earned an at-large bid from the committee and will be an #11 seed in the tournament's East Region. They will play their opening game on Friday against #6 Oklahoma (22-11) in Birmingham, Alabama. This marks the Hawks 18th appearance in school history.
The #12 seed Temple Owls (21-12) received an automatic bid from the NCAA when they defeated St. Joe's in the Atlantic 10 championship game. The conference champs will face #5 Michigan State Spartans (25-8) on Thursday in the tournament's South Region. Coach Fran Dunphy is making his 10th tournament appearance but first as a coach of the Cherry and White. Temple is currently riding a seven-game winning streak.
The Villanova Wildcats (20-12) made the tournament for the fourth consecutive year, this time as a #12 seed. They will face #5 Clemson (26-7) on Friday in Tampa, Florida as part of the Midwest Bracket. The `Cats are 3-0 against Clemson in school history but have not played them since the 1989-90 season. This is the 29th NCAA appearance for the university.
