PHILADELPHIA -- Expecting a Philadelphia team to reach the NCAA tournament was as automatic as eating a soft pretzel, watching another classic Big 5 game at the Palestra or listening to a raspy John Chaney berate a referee about a blown call.
The Owls went 12 straight seasons under Chaney; Villanova and Saint Joseph's each have experienced March Madness this decade as No. 1 seeds; Ivy League power Penn played in the Final Four in 1979; and La Salle and Drexel were on the tourney bracket lines in the 1980s and 1990s.
This year, some of the six Philadelphia D-I schools are lucky to be on the bubble.
Saint Joseph's, Temple and Villanova need a win or two in this week's conference tournaments to even be considered for an at-large berth. Drexel and Penn are done for the season. La Salle needs an improbable A-10 tournament title.
Philadelphia is in danger of not having a team in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1977.
"It would be a shame, it really would," Wildcats coach Jay Wright said. "Our city has such a great basketball tradition. We all really take pride in representing Philadelphia basketball."
Forget the Big 5. This could be the Giant 0-Fer.
Trying to make the NCAAs for a fourth straight year under Wright, the Wildcats (19-11, 9-9 Big East) might be Philadelphia's best shot at extending the city's tournament streak. Villanova finished eighth in the Big East and opens the conference tournament against Syracuse on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. The two teams split their games this season.
Win against the Orange, and the Wildcats will have a 20-win season in a rebuilding year and a decent shot at an at-large bid. Beat Big East champ Georgetown on Thursday, and Villanova can watch the 65-team tournament field announced on Sunday with few worries it won't hear its name.
Of course, any conference tournament winner is guaranteed an automatic bid.
"If we win two, I think we'd be a definite," Wright said Tuesday. "I also realize so much of it depends on what other teams do. From the inside, all we've got to do is worry about our team. Talking about beating two teams is ridiculous because we have to worry about one win."
The Wildcats might have already made plans for a Selection Sunday watch party on campus had it not been for a pair of agonizing and costly losses that resulted from baskets a couple of ticks before the final buzzer:
They lost 55-53 at Georgetown in a game that decided on a foul call 75 feet from the basket with 0.1 seconds to play in February; and Villanova lost to North Carolina State 69-68 on a foul and free throws with 0.4 seconds remaining in November.
Philly has three tries to get a team in the bracket at the Atlantic 10 tournament in Atlantic City, N.J.
Temple (18-12, 11-5) earned a bye and the No. 2 seed; Saint Joseph's (18-11, 9-7) has the fifth seed and opens against Fordham; and surprising La Salle (14-16, 8-8) has the seventh seed and plays Duquesne. The winner of the La Salle-Duquesne game plays the Owls on Thursday.
Top-seeded Xavier's only two conference losses came in Philadelphia against the Owls and Hawks.
"This is our last shot," said Hawks senior Pat Calathes. "Everybody's really prepared to get something done."
The Hawks are trying to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since coach Phil Martelli took them to the regional final in 2004. The Owls are looking for their first trip since a regional final appearance under Chaney in 2001. They've become regulars in the NIT.
Owls coach Fran Dunphy, who led the Quakers to nine NCAA berths, doesn't believe there will be a Philly shutout.
"I haven't looked at it like that because there's still a long way to go," he said. "Somebody can jump in there and hopefully it will be us."
The Quakers and Wildcats were Philadelphia's NCAA representatives each of the last three years. Five times since 1977 the city schools had only one representative and twice four teams have made it, the last coming in 1995 when Drexel, Penn, Temple and Villanova qualified.
"It's a glitch, it's a one-time thing," Martelli said. "I don't think there will be a lot of wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth if there isn't a Philadelphia team in the tournament."
No, but filling out that bracket without picking a local team would seem as odd as ordering a cheesesteak without cheese. Wright expressed concern the NIT might not want to select three Philadelphia teams, even though the Wildcats, Hawks and Owls all have strong postseason records.
"All of us have been inconsistent this year, but out of the four of us, any one of us can get hot and win our tournament, including La Salle," Wright said. "Once we get eliminated, we follow the other Philly teams. We all do it, the fans do it, the coaches do it. That's what makes us unique and we'll all be rooting for someone to get in."