Willard Said 500. The Box Score Said 2,653.

Attendance is announced attendance from each school's official box score, and the box scores don't say how each school counts it. Quotes from Willard come from USA Today's Craig Meyer (Oct. 23), The Inquirer's Jeff Neiburg (Oct. 22, 2026, and Dec. 4, 2025), The Villanovan's Finn Courtney (Oct. 28) and Philadelphia Sports Now (Sept. 17, 2025). The Temple quotes are as The Villanovan reported them. Times are Eastern. Opinion is labeled as opinion.

Kevin Willard had a bad night on Oct. 22. Villanova had just lost an exhibition to Virginia, 93-71, and he spent nearly five minutes of the postgame press conference on the Big 5, according to USA Today. The best line was about a game he coached.

"We played La Salle and there was 500 people," he said. Then: "Penn played St. Joe's and there were 2,000 people." And later, about the next time: "I'm not gonna go to La Salle and play in front of 400 people."

Villanova's own box score from that game, Nov. 19 at La Salle's Glaser Arena, says 2,653. So does the BIG EAST's. Villanova won 70-55 in a building The Inquirer's Jeff Neiburg called sleepy, and sleepy I'll give him.

Penn beat Saint Joseph's at the Palestra on Nov. 17, and Penn's box score lists 2,387. Two thousand is a coach rounding down by 387. He missed on his own game by 2,153.

Now put the six pod games in a row, because they're all official. Penn at Drexel drew 1,984. Saint Joseph's and Drexel drew 2,401 at Hagan Arena. Penn and Saint Joseph's drew 2,387. Villanova at La Salle drew 2,653. Temple and La Salle drew 3,108 at the Liacouras Center. Temple at Villanova drew 6,501.

So the game he called empty was the third-best crowd of the six. Two games beat it, and one of them was his own. Finneran Pavilion seats 6,501, and ESPN's data lists 6,501 for all 14 Finneran Pavilion games last season, Queens University included. That is clearly not a turnstile count. The box scores don't say how the other schools count, so I'm comparing announced figures.

Yeah, but he's also been making a money argument for more than a year. In a podcast appearance Philadelphia Sports Now reported Sept. 17, 2025, Willard said losing two home games, or a shot at a Quad 1 game, was "going to be really, really big" financially. The Inquirer's Dec. 4, 2025 story quoted him from June: "You're also taking away a home game when revenue has become extremely important." At his Oct. 22 press conference he said continuity would "actually get people to the games." The Inquirer's Neiburg wrote in December that the pod format costs Villanova "hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue" it could bring in with home games. That's a real argument. A road game at La Salle is a gate Villanova doesn't get, and a home date at Finneran is one it does.

The 500 and the 2,000 were off-the-cuff remarks after a 22-point loss, so I'm not treating them as a prepared case. They're still wrong. My opinion, labeled: if the money is the reason, say the money. People in this city will argue about it.

Some of the rest is harder to check.

"The other five schools broke it off," Willard said. He also said, "A month ago, we thought we had a deal." Villanova's own statement, released earlier that day, says the schools "were close to an agreement at one point but could not get unanimity on a new scheduling format beginning in 2027." The Inquirer reported, citing sources, that the format Villanova liked, a bye and a home game for the two highest NET teams from the previous year, would have made another Big 5 road game unlikely, and that Temple wasn't the only school unwilling to sign. It also reported that Villanova finished 34th in the NET last season, and Saint Joseph's, next best among the Big 5, was 111th. The Inquirer said Willard later confirmed the essentials. He said that didn't guarantee Villanova would avoid the road, and that the other schools "just didn't think that would ever happen." "Not my issue," he said.

"Talk to Temple. They killed it," he said. Temple's athletic director, Arthur Johnson, spoke to Owls Daily on Oct. 23, as The Villanovan reported. He said Villanova came back at one point asking that there be "some merit" in how the tripleheader money was divided, a move he said "helped them lose the rest of the people." In his own words, as quoted by The Villanovan from Owls Daily: "But others were very skeptical about it as well. I was just the most vocal… Otherwise, they would have left us behind." That is one side's account, and I couldn't find a Villanova response, so I'm leaving it as his.

Then the banquet. Willard said he wanted a banquet the night before the Xfinity Mobile Arena games and "a Hall of Fame," and that "the other schools couldn't afford it or didn't wanna do it." The Big 5 already has a Hall of Fame. Its 2025 class, Villanova's Dante Cunningham among them, was announced for induction at the men's Big 5 Classic on Dec. 6, in Willard's first season, and announced to be recognized again at the women's Classic the next day at Finneran. Maybe he wants a bigger production. Maybe he asked for one. I can't find what was proposed or what it would have cost, so I can't tell you who couldn't afford it. I can tell you the Hall of Fame exists.

He also said he passed on "huge, huge games" to hold two dates in 2027-28 for the tripleheader he's now leaving. Those opponents weren't named, and I can't check them. I'm treating it as his claim.

None of this makes Willard a villain for protecting his program. His team went 24-9 last season, won all three of its Big 5 games, the last of them the Classic final, and made the NCAA Tournament. Villanova's own statement says it has to balance "the best interests of Villanova basketball for success in the modern landscape."

But this season Villanova hosts La Salle at Finneran on Nov. 10 and plays at Temple's Liacouras Center on Dec. 1, where 3,108 showed up for Temple and La Salle last November. Rider and Coppin State are also on the Finneran schedule, on Nov. 14 and Nov. 24. I'll be curious what the announced number says for those. Last year it said 6,501 for every Finneran game.

Here is what would change my mind. If Villanova can produce a turnstile count at La Salle close to 500, I'll correct this. If the Hall of Fame or banquet proposal exists in writing, with a price, and the other schools turned it down, I'll say so. If Villanova shows real numbers on what a home date earns, the money argument deserves a better messenger than 500.

On Sunday, Nov. 1, at 9:30 a.m. ET on FOX, Villanova opens its season against Notre Dame in Rome. Opinion: Kevin Willard can leave the Big 5 if he has to. If money is the reason, he should say so and let the 500 go.