Kevin Willard scorches Big 5 format, points blame elsewhere: ‘They killed it’

Kevin Willard scorches Major 5 format, points blame elsewhere: 'They killed it'.

Key points

• 10 Virginia, 93-71, in a preseason exhibition Thursday, Oct.
• The 2026-2027 men's college basketball season is upon us.
• He pointed specifically to low attendance at some of the Wildcats' road games at smaller schools, including a 70-55 win last season at La Salle.
• The confirmed attendance for that game against La Salle last season was 2, 653.
• "I'm not gonna go to La Salle and play in front of 400 people, " he remarked.

Kevin Willard scorches Major 5 format, points blame elsewhere: 'They killed it'. Craig Meyer USA TODAY. Florida takes top spot in men's college basketball preseason rankings.

In practice, the 2026-2027 men's college basketball season is upon us. Find out who takes the top spot, and who could be contenders this year.

Villanova men's basketball lost to No. 10 Virginia, 93-71, in a preseason exhibition Thursday, Oct. 22, but there was something else after the 22-point drubbing that had the Wildcats' coach upset.

During his postgame news conference, second-year Villanova coach Kevin Willard teed off on what he saw as inaccurate reporting from the Philadelphia Inquirer earlier that day over the Wildcats' role in the disintegration of the famed Major 5, noting the development "wasn't a Villanova decision."

Florida is No. 1 for a reason: The Gators cracked college basketball's new code. Top 25 breakdown: What to know regarding every preseason contender.

"You're talking to the school that wanted to keep it alive. The other five schools broke it off, " Willard remarked. "I know the only way he could obtain clicks is to put Villanova in it as if he didn't put Villanova, nobody would click on his article. Talk to the other schools. This is not a Villanova matter. The other schools opted out. They didn't want to play us. Talk to them."

While Willard lambasted the Inquirer, much of what he detailed in a almost five-minute stretch of his news conference largely lined up with what the outlet had noted regarding the Sizeable 5 taking place without Villanova for the indefinite future, beginning with the 2027-28 season.

Willard remarked the Wildcats weren't interested in continuing with the current format of the six-team event between Philadelphia-area schools, in which the teams were split into two pods and played games in a round-robin setup to determine seeding for the Sizeable 5 Classic tripleheader at Xfinity Mobile Arena, the home arena of the Philadelphia 76ers. Willard described the format as "stupid."

"We played La Salle and there was 500 people, " Willard remarked. "Penn played St. Joe's and there were 2, 000 individuals. My whole thing is I just wanted to create it the way it was. But the other schools didn't see it the same way. The other schools wanted us to play on the road every year. I have to do what's best for my program."

Meanwhile, the confirmed attendance for that game against La Salle last season was 2, 653.

Instead, Willard remarked Villanova had proposed a system in which the teams with the highest NET rankings wouldn't have to play on the road. The Inquirer documented one of the formats under discussion would have involved the two teams with the highest NET ranking from the previous season earning a bye and a home game leading into the Sizeable 5 Classic. Last season, Villanova finished 34th in the NET rankings, with the next-closest Major 5 team to it, St. Joseph's, all the way back at 111. In that setup, the Wildcats wouldn't have had to play on the road in the near future, barring any kind of unforeseen dip from a program with two national championships previously decade.

Willard shifted blame primarily to Temple and its athletic director, Arthur Johnson. The Inquirer documented Temple wasn't the only Sizeable 5 school unwilling to sign off on the proposal.

"Talk to Temple, " Willard remarked. "They killed it. But nobody would click on the article if you remarked Temple."

Willard wasn't willing to completely close the door on the Major 5's future and stated he'd be interested in scheduling games against some of those schools. He remarked he was planning on calling Penn coach Fran McCaffery and trying to schedule a home-and-home series, adding that he'd "love to play in The Palestra, " the Quakers' iconic home gym. But Willard has his limits.

"I'm not gonna go to La Salle and play in front of 400 people, " he remarked. "No, that's not going to happen."

In his first season at Villanova after a contentious exit from Maryland, where he had coached the previous three seasons, Willard went 24-9 and guided the Wildcats to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since Jay Wright retired after the 2022 season. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

In short, kevin Willard scorches Big 5 format, points blame elsewhere: 'They killed it' is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.