Battle of 33rd Street

Battle of 33rd Street
	Drexel Dragons Penn Quakers
Sport	Basketball
Location	Philadelphia
First meeting	December 14, 1920; Penn 28, Drexel 10
Latest meeting	December 7, 2024; Drexel 60, Penn 47
Next meeting	November 21, 2025
Stadiums	Daskalakis Athletic Center ; Palestra
Statistics
Meetings total	28
All-time series	Penn leads 17–11
Regular season series	Penn leads 17–11
Postseason results	None
Largest victory	Penn, 48–16 (1922)
Smallest victory	1 (1988, 2015)
Longest win streak	Penn, 7 (1920–1928)
Current win streak	Drexel, 1 (2024–Present)

Last updated September 13, 2025

220m
240yds

Penn

Drexel

Locations of Drexel and Penn

The Battle of 33rd Street rivalry refers to the men's college basketball rivalry between Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania ('Penn') in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The rivalry is fueled by the proximity of the schools to each other, as the rivalry is known for being the closest geographical rivalry in NCAA Division I college sports. The campuses of the two schools share a physical border, and the teams' home courts are mere blocks away from each other, as Drexel's Daskalakis Athletic Center is located at 34th and Market Street, and Penn's historic Palestra is located on 33rd Street south of Walnut Street. The series was originally played at the Palestra every year until 2015 with the exception of the 2008 game, when Penn played at Drexel for the first time in team history. Beginning in 2015, the location began alternating between the two schools.

Beginning with the 2023–24 season, Drexel officially became part of the Philadelphia Big 5, which historically included the Philadelphia area's five other Division I programs—Penn, La Salle, Saint Joseph's, Temple, and Villanova. The current Big 5 format sees the six teams divided into three-team pods, with Drexel and Penn being placed in separate pods. While they will likely continue to play annually, they will not do so within the Big 5 unless both teams finish in the same position in their respective pods.^[1]

The teams began playing against each other annually during the 1996–97 NCAA basketball season. Previous to this season, the teams faced each other only eight times. Seven of those games were during the 1920s, where Penn won all seven, and the eighth game was in 1988, where Drexel won 70–69.

In the 2023–24 season, Drexel was admitted into the Philadelphia Big 5. Within the conference, Drexel and Penn do not play annually, but instead play against each other in years that they are in the same pod, or if they are matched up against each other in the Big 5 Championship.

Results

Drexel victories	Penn victories

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	December 14, 1920	Weightman Hall	Penn	28–10
2	December 7, 1921	Weightman Hall	Penn	24–10
3	December 13, 1922	Weightman Hall	Penn	48–16
4	December 8, 1923	Weightman Hall	Penn	28–13
5	December 6, 1924	Weightman Hall	Penn	34–11
6	December 11, 1926	Weightman Hall	Penn	39–26
7	December 19, 1928	Palestra	Penn	35–14
8	December 10, 1988	Palestra	Drexel	70–69
9	January 15, 1997	Palestra	Drexel	58–52
10	January 20, 1998	Palestra	Penn	79–65
11	January 21, 1999	Palestra	Penn	75–65
12	January 25, 2000	Palestra	Penn	54–46
13	January 10, 2001	Palestra	Drexel	68–63
14	November 28, 2001	Palestra	Penn	89–80
15	November 25, 2002	Palestra	Drexel	71–62

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
16	November 24, 2003	Palestra	Penn	79–73
17	November 23, 2004	Palestra	Penn	81–50
18	November 26, 2005	Palestra	Penn	68–60
19	November 21, 2006	Palestra	Penn	68–49
20	November 9, 2007	Palestra	Drexel	67–59^OT
21	November 18, 2008	Daskalakis Athletic Center	Drexel	66–64
22	November 24, 2009	Palestra	Drexel	58–49
23	November 20, 2010	Palestra	Drexel	77–56
24	November 17, 2012	Palestra	Drexel	61–59
25	December 22, 2015	Daskalakis Athletic Center	Drexel	53–52^OT
26	December 28, 2016	Palestra	Penn	75–67
27	November 15, 2022	Daskalakis Athletic Center	Penn	64–59
28	December 7, 2024	Wells Fargo Center	Drexel	60–47
29	November 21, 2025	Daskalakis Athletic Center
Series: Penn leads 17–11

The game on December 19, 1928 was scheduled to be the first game played at Drexel, in the newly constructed Curtis Hall, however construction was not completed in time and the game was moved to Palestra.^[2]

In 2008, at the first game in the series to be played at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, the game was featured on ESPN Hoops Marathon and tipped off at 10 a.m.

In, 2023 Drexel was admitted to the Philadelphia Big 5 which Penn had already been a member. In 2024, Drexel and Penn faced each other for the first time as Big 5 members in the Big 5 fifth place game at Wells Fargo Center, which was the first neutral site game in the rivalry.

Hiatus in 2011, 2013–2014, 2017–2021

In the 2011–12 season, Drexel and Penn did not play against each other, ending a 14-year streak due to a dispute over where the game should be played. In 1997, the teams agreed to play their games at the Palestra, as it is where many Philadelphia Big 5 and City 6 games are generally played at. However, since then, Drexel's basketball team had greatly improved, and Drexel favored changing the series structure so that the location would alternate between the schools each season. The teams resumed play in the 2012–13 season at The Palestra, but did not play again until the 2015–16 season, when Penn agreed to resume the series at Drexel. From that point forward, the location of the game would supposedly alternate between The Palestra and Daskalakis Athletic Center each season, although after Drexel returned to the Palestra in the 2016–17 season, the teams did not continue the series until 2022.

Other events

The schools also occasionally face each other in other sports, including lacrosse, women's basketball, and field hockey.

On March 11, 2014, Drexel and Penn faced each other in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. The teams earned automatic bids by winning each of their conference tournaments, and marked Drexel's first invitation to the national championship. The game was played at Franklin Field, and the Dragons defeated the Quakers by score of 16–11 to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.

References

↑ Gelston, Dan (April 11, 2023). "Say goodbye to tradition: Philadelphia's Big 5 gets facelift". Associated Press. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
↑ "New Gym Informally Opened by Osteopathy Game" (PDF). The Triangle. 16 January 1929. p. 1. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

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[1] Gelston, Dan (April 11, 2023). "Say goodbye to tradition: Philadelphia's Big 5 gets facelift". Associated Press. Retrieved April 12, 2023.

[2] "New Gym Informally Opened by Osteopathy Game" (PDF). The Triangle. 16 January 1929. p. 1. Retrieved 24 March 2017.

[1]

[2]

v t e Drexel Dragons men's basketball
Venues	Main Building (1894–1928) Curtis Hall Gym (1928–1952) Palestra (1949–1951, 3 games; 1987–1988 alternate) Sayre Junior High School (1951–1969) 32nd Street Armory (1969–1975) Daskalakis Athletic Center (1975–present)
Rivalries	Penn
Culture & lore	City 6 DAC Pack "Drexel Fight Song" Mario the Magnificent Philadelphia Big 5 Big 5 Classic Robert V. Geasey Trophy
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e Penn Quakers men's basketball
Venues	Palestra (1927–present)
Rivalries	Drexel Princeton
Culture & lore	"Fight on, Pennsylvania!" City 6 Penn Pep Band Philadelphia Big 5 Big 5 Classic Robert V. Geasey Trophy
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1896–97 1897–98 1898–1902 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics

v t e Philadelphia Big 5
Schools	Drexel University La Salle University University of Pennsylvania Saint Joseph's University Temple University Villanova University
Teams	Drexel Dragons men's women's La Salle Explorers men's women's Penn Quakers men's women's Saint Joseph's Hawks men's women's Temple Owls men's women's Villanova Wildcats men's women's
Arenas	Daskalakis Athletic Center Drexel Finneran Pavilion Villanova women's Big 5 Classic Hagan Arena Saint Joseph's John Glaser Arena La Salle Liacouras Center Temple Palestra Penn Xfinity Mobile Arena men's Big 5 Classic
Competitions	Big 5 Classic
Related	City 6 Holy War Robert V. Geasey Trophy Battle of 33rd Street

Battle of 33rd Street

Contents

Results

Hiatus in 2011, 2013–2014, 2017–2021

Other events

See also

References

Statistics
Drexel Dragons Penn Quakers
Sport	Basketball
Location	Philadelphia
First meeting	December 14, 1920 Penn 28, Drexel 10
Latest meeting	December 7, 2024 Drexel 60, Penn 47
Next meeting	November 21, 2025
Stadiums	Daskalakis Athletic Center Palestra
Meetings total	28
All-time series	Penn leads 17–11
Regular season series	Penn leads 17–11
Postseason results	None
Largest victory	Penn, 48–16 (1922)
Smallest victory	1 (1988, 2015)
Longest win streak	Penn, 7 (1920–1928)
Current win streak	Drexel, 1 (2024–Present)