PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — It’s the day college basketball players across the country have been waiting for all season: Squad Sunday.
Players, coaches and other members of staff gather around TVs as they wait for their team to be named with a shot at the NCAA Tournament championship on the line.
But that didn’t happen in 2023 for Philadelphia schools. There will be no teams celebrating Sunday, or local teams to cheer for going all out in the best event in the sport.
For the first time since 1977, there will be zero Philadelphia men’s basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament.
In 1977, Jimmy Carter became president after Gerald Ford, gasoline was 62 cents a gallon… in other words, a lot has changed 46 years later.
It was a bad year for college hoops in Philadelphia.
Despite being a talented bunch, the unexpected retirement of Hall of Fame coach Jay Wright had a huge impact on Villanova’s basketball team. Shocking.
The Wildcats finished the season 17-16 overall before losing to Creighton University in the Big East Tournament last week to conclude Kyle Neptune’s first season as the team’s head coach.
At North Broad Street, Aaron Mckie’s side again couldn’t get over the hump in a season of ups and downs. The Owls finished 16-16 overall and had big wins over Villanova and then-No. 1 ranked the University of Houston. But their season also featured losses to lower level competition like Maryland Eastern Shore and Wagner.
The Owls’ season ended against the University of Cincinnati in a landslide 84-54 loss in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
The University of Pennsylvania men’s squad looked like they might be able to dance with that one Philly team. Wrong.
The Quakers, who finished 17-13 overall, lost to Princeton University, 77-70, in the semifinals of the Ivy League Tournament. The Tigers won the Ivy League Tournament in a 74-65 victory over Yale University. Princeton is number 15 and will play against number 2 from the University of Arizona in the first round of the tournament.
St. Joseph’s hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and that hasn’t changed this season. In Billy Lange’s fourth season at Hawk Hill, they went 16–17 and lost to Dayton University in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
The La Salle men’s basketball team recorded two victories in the Atlantic 10 Tourney, but also fell short. In Fran Dunphy’s first year as head coach, the Explorers went 15-19.
Drexel University was unable to secure a bid. The Dragons went 17-15 and were eliminated in the quarterfinals from the CAA Tournament by the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
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