How to Watch Today’s Big 5 Tripleheader on TV Today

St. Joe’s DeAndre Bembry (left); Villanova’s Josh Hart (right)

Philly oldtimers talk about the days of Big 5 double- and tripleheaders: When you’d be able to go to the Palestra and see two or three Philly teams in consecutive games. It’s all part of the mystique of college basketball in this city.

It’s not quite as good, but today there’s a Philly college hoops tripleheader on TV — and you don’t even need to leave your house to see it. Three Big 5 teams that could all make the NCAA tournament are in action in their conference tournaments today.

First, Temple plays South Florida at noon in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference tournament. The 20-10 Owls are the conference’s top seed and are on the NCAA tournament bubble. A loss here could knock them out of the tournament completely. Fortunately, the Owls match up decently against South Florida — Temple plays great D, and the Bulls don’t shoot all that well. Plus, Temple has already beaten them twice this season. Teams that are 2-0 and playing a team for the third time generally win the third game.

Temple plays at noon on ESPN2.

After the Temple game wraps up, you can turn your attention to Saint Joseph’s. The 24-7 Hawks, the fourth seed, play George Washington at 2:30. This game will be harder than it sounds, because Joe’s is actually playing against George Washington University and not just some guy named George Washington.

The Colonials are the five-seed, and finished just two games behind the Hawks in the A-10 standings. Joe’s is on its first two-game losing streak this season; a loss on Saturday to Duquesne dropped the Hawks out of a first-place tie in the conference standings. The Hawks are just 1.5-point favorites.

But Joe’s has already routed GW on the road this season, 84-66, in a game where Joe’s lead pretty much the entire way. DeAndre’ Bembry, the Atlantic 10 player of the year, didn’t even play that well. Win here and SJU solidifies its tournament resume.

St. Joe’s plays at 2:30 on NBC Sports Network.

There’s a little break before the third game of the day, when Villanova plays Providence in a Big East tournament quarterfinal. Led by Josh Hart, the Wildcats are one of the best teams in the nation — fourth in the RPI, third in the polls. The Wildcats will be a 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens today. They’re 8.5-point favorites.

The Wildcats have already lost to Providence this season, however, in overtime at the Wells Fargo Center on January 24th. The Friars have Big East player of the year Kris Dunn. But Villanova beat them on the road in the return trip in February, and cruised in the second half after a sloppy first half yesterday against Georgetown.

Villanova plays at 6:30 on Fox Sports 1.

Follow @dhm on Twitter.