Philly A Top 5 City For College Basketball Fans, Report Says

PHILADELPHIA — The 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament will begin soon. And as March Madness nears, Philadelphia college hoops fans should know they are in a prime city for rooting on their teams.

WalletHub recently released a list of the best cities for college basketball fans.

The website looked at various factors to create the list, including the number of teams per city, the winning percentage of each, stadium capacity, and social-media engagement.

With those and more factors considered, Philadelphia was ranked No. 2 on the list.

The Philadelphia area touts quite a few standout college basketball programs.

In fact, it has the most Division 1 NCAA teams out of any city. They are La Salle, Penn, Saint Joseph's, Temple, Villanova, and Drexel.

One interesting fact is that, despite being six teams, these teams are sometimes referred to as the "Big Five"; this moniker persisted even after Drexel was added far later than the other teams.

Philadelphia's teams have the most regular season conference wins, at 94 since 1938. They also have four national championship wins, which puts them in seventh place. The city has also had four Hall of Fame coaches, tying them with Los Angeles.

Below are the top 10 best cities for college basketball fans:

1. Los Angeles
2. Philadelphia
3. Storrs, Connecticut
4. Durham, North Carolina
5. Lexington, Kentucky
6. Lawrence, Kansas
7. East Lansing, Michigan
8. Chapel Hill, North Carolina
9. Washington DC
10. Boston

See the full list from WalletHub online here.