I grew up rooting for Penn and Temple, the alma maters of my parents. I like the coaches of the other Big Five schools and check the morning papers during college basketball season with a hope that they all won the night before. I rooted for Penn against Temple as a kid because Penn was more prominent nationally, only to shed that allegiance when I went to Princeton (although I rooted hard for Penn on its improbable trip to the Final Four in 1979 -- Penn's star, Tony Price, is the father of UConn's A.J. Price). I still root for every Ivy champion to do well in the NCAA tournament, and I close ranks behind any Philadelphia-area team in the Big Dance.
A few years ago, it was St. Joe's, which reached the regional final behind the splendid guard play of Jameer Nelson and Delonte West. I've rooted for Temple in the tournament the past two seasons (and I root for the Owls now first among the Philadelphia-area teams). This year, its Villanova, and we'll be rooting hard for the Wildcats this weekend.
I've listened to talk radio in Philadelphia during my commute to and from work, and outside some partisans (mostly St. Joe's alums, who must resent Villanova's "lace-curtain" image), almost everyone will shed aside the traditional rivalries to pull for the 'Cats.
It should be a fun weekend.
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