Holy War (Villanova vs. St. Joe's)

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Teams
Saint Joseph's Hawks
Villanova Wildcats
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Originated
1921
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Series
Villanova leads, 41-25, 29-24 since Big 5
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Most Recent Winner
Saint Joseph's
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Trophy
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The Holy War is a rivalry game in the Philadelphia Big 5 between Saint Joseph's University and Villanova University, which is considered the most intense of all the Big 5 games. Recent games between the two schools have been played in February during ESPN's Rivalry Week, either at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania when Saint Joseph's hosts the game, or at The Pavilion when Villanova is the host.

Villanova leads the all-time series, 41-25 and 29-24 as members of the Big 5. Villanova had won eleven of the twelve meetings since the first game took place in 1921, until the formation of the Big Five in the 1955-56 season. 'Nova has done well in recent years, winning nine of the last 13 contests. Most of the Saint Joseph's victories came during the 1950s and 1960s, but Saint Joseph's won the most recent meeting in 2008.

The rivalry has been intensified over the years by pranks pulled by each school's student body. During the 2008 Holy War, St. Joe's students dressed up in Nova gear, invaded the Nova student section with a rollout that said "The Hawk Will Never Die", SJU's motto. Villanova's mascot was also stolen by St. Joe's students in 2003 and paraded around Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse and other campus locations. During the 2003 Holy War, a Villanova male cheerleader attempted to jump the famed Hawk and was tackled by an SJU alumnus. [http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=1648733] Villanova only allowed Saint Joseph's students 250 tickets (out of 6,500) during SJU's perfect 2003-2004 regular season so Saint Joseph's returned the favor in 2008 by giving less than 500 tickets to VU students at the Palestra. Don DiJulia, athletic director at St. Joseph's has called the rivalry the "Army-Navy of basketball". [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02EEDC143BF930A35751C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2]

Recent History

1996 December 23 : @ The Pavilion : Villanova 81 St. Joseph's 65
1998 December 1 : @ The Palestra : Villanova 61 St. Joseph's 49
2000 February 17 : @ The Pavilion : Villanova 68 St. Joseph's 61
2000 December 11 : @ The Palestra : Villanova 78 St. Joseph's 75
2002 February : @ The Pavilion : Villanova 102 St. Joseph's 73
2003 February : @ The Palestra : St. Joseph's 92 Villanova 75
2004 February : @ The Pavilion : St. Joseph's (#3) 74 Villanova 67
2005 February : @ : Villanova (#22) 67 St. Joseph's 52
2006 February 6 : @ The Palestra : Villanova (#4) 71 St. Joseph's 58
2007 February 6 : @ The Pavilion : Villanova 56 St. Joseph's 39
2008 February 4 : @ The Palestra : St. Joseph's 77 Villanova 55