Is a Big 5 (or City 6) tournament closer to happening?

Call it the Big 5 4.0.

Basically acknowledging that the City Series badly needs a reinvention, administrators at local schools have begun talking about holding a tournament instead of the annual City Series men’s round-robin.

We’ve stated this before: It’s the right move.

“As it currently stands, it isn’t what it was,” said one Big 5 administrator who was at last week’s Palestra doubleheader. “Everybody who has two eyes knows that.”

This isn’t merely a reaction to that Big 5 doubleheader (minus Villanova) that came up woefully short of filling the Palestra, ending up with fewer than 3,300 people in the place, and not all at the same time. Talks already were scheduled before last Wednesday. A Zoom meeting that included administrators from all the Big 5 schools was held last Friday, with the Big 5 future as the agenda item.

» READ MORE: Subdued atmosphere for Big 5 Palestra doubleheader

For the first time, there doesn’t seem to be an insurmountable hurdle to getting this done, with the “hope” being maybe as soon as next season, as one Zoom participant put it.

If it happens, look for Drexel to be included.

“For sure,” another Big 5 participant said of Drexel’s potential participation.

What makes this version 4.0? Go through the history. The Big 5 went from La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph’s, Temple, and Villanova all playing each other every season (1.0), to a half round-robin that Villanova was correctly blamed for (2.0), to ‘Nova under Steve Lappas jumping back to the full round-robin (3.0) to these current talks.

Let’s assume that Villanova would both love to have this tournament format — offering more schedule flexibility as the Big East moves to 20 league games — and also doesn’t want to be portrayed as some bully killing the Big 5 again.

In its current state, the rest of the Big 5 needs Villanova more than Villanova needs the rest of the Big 5. A tough pill maybe for other fan bases to swallow, but it’s the case, even if ‘Nova doesn’t look like Final Four material this season. (For the record, Temple fans showed up last month when the Owls beat ‘Nova at the Liacouras Center. Those weren’t Wildcats fans in the upper deck, not many anyway.)

This isn’t a new idea, having a tournament. Some years ago, former Penn athletic director Steve Bilsky led an effort that almost got to the finish line, with strong financial incentives built in for each school, but in the end, all the schools weren’t willing to sign off.

Based on last week’s talks, committees are being formed to delve into all the issues involved. If this happens, the venue would still be determined. Let’s say, for instance, that two schools get byes (maybe based on the previous season’s KenPom.com rankings? That would make sense) … you could have a first round with two games on campus sites.

All the schools aren’t in agreement about where it would be best to hold semifinals and final/consolation games, with the Wells Fargo Center getting some support (Villanova already plays some home games there) but the Palestra getting the strongest support.

My vote: the Palestra. Not just for the history and ambience, but to make it a tougher ticket as it gets going, especially with all the schools trying to get back on their win-loss feet.

So it’s a City 6 tournament?

“You can add Drexel and still call it the Big 5,” Rowan athletic director and former La Salle coach John Giannini said last year in talking up the idea of this kind of tournament. “The Big Ten has more than 10 schools. The Atlantic 10 has more than 10 schools. The Big 12 isn’t 12 schools.”

Good for the schools to acknowledge that any Big 5 historical value built up over the years without Drexel hasn’t been paying dividends lately when local play has been Villanova and the Little 4. The ultimate success or failure of any combined effort ultimately depends on the teams succeeding on the court. Put out a winning product, people show up. Recent graduates aren’t going to get there just for streamers and rollouts, vestiges of a long-ago age.

Let’s assume a tournament would happen in the November/December preseason window, with weekend play stressed over weekday games. Let’s hope NBC Sports Philadelphia jumps on this as a local event.

An alternative Big 5 4.0 is something few want to spend time contemplating.

“Other option is back to 1954-55,” another administrator not on the Zoom call texted, referring to the year before the Big 5 was formed, when schools just randomly scheduled one another, not part of an entity that became stitched into the fabric of Philadelphia sports. (For the record, this administrator wasn’t from Villanova. I’ve never heard anyone from Villanova make such threats.)

This 4.0 idea might not be as strong as a round-robin that packs in the Palestra for all the games, but those days aren’t coming back, so good for the schools to acknowledge all that. Now, their biggest task is to figure out how to turn it into a revenue producer.

Also, traditionalists should understand a Big 5 tournament would still be better than anything held in any other city in the country.

“It makes too much sense,” one Zoom participant said of the whole idea.