Saint Joseph's Hawks

The Saint Joseph's Hawks bring a scrappy, hard-nosed identity to the Atlantic 10, playing their home games at Hagan Arena on the school's Philadelphia campus. Hawks basketball is woven into the city's rich college hoops culture, sharing a passionate, blue-collar fan base with the other Philly Big 5 programs. The team's mascot famously never stops flapping its wings for the entire 40 minutes, a symbol of the relentless energy the program prides itself on. Saint Joseph's has built a reputation as a program that punches above its weight, capable of taking down blue bloods on any given night.

Saint Joseph's basketball dates back to 1909 and has produced three Elite Eight appearances, in 1963, 1981, and most memorably 2004. That 2004 team, led by Jameer Nelson and Delonte West under coach Phil Martelli, went 27-0 in the regular season and earned a #1 overall NCAA tournament seed before falling to Oklahoma State. The Hawks are a founding fixture of the Philadelphia Big 5 rivalry alongside Villanova, Temple, La Salle, and Penn. While the program has never captured a national championship, its history of Cinderella-style tournament runs has made it one of the Atlantic 10's most respected names.