Big 5 Men’s Basketball in Philadelphia: Jan. 28 Odds, Spread, and Totals

Wednesday will see a relatively quiet day for the Philadelphia area's Big 5 Men's basketball teams. Only two of them are in action, with the La Salle Explorers hitting the road to face the Fordham Rams at 7 p.m. EST while the Temple Owls play host to the Charlotte 49ers at the same time.

What seemed to be a lost season took a shocking turn for La Salle in their last two games. Heading into their January 17th game against St. Bonaventure, the Explorers had lost seven of their last eight games and looked poised to add another defeat to their record. However, 27 points from forward Jerome Brewer Jr. led them to an upset win at home. What seemed like a one-night wonder was immediately followed up by a win against the 14-6 Dayton Flyers, putting two quality wins on a ledger that had previously been devoid of any. La Salle is riding some momentum, and now faces its easiest opponent in weeks.

To their credit, the Rams are not exactly pushovers. They are current owners of a 10-10 record, making it to .500 through beating up on a handful of bad teams. A month ago it would seem that the Explorers would be just another overmatched squad, but that is far from the truth now. Fordham will need to put together its best team game of the year to pull off an upset against La Salle on Wednesday.

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Note: The above data was collected on Jan. 28, 2026, and may have changed since writing.

The 49ers find themselves on a La Salle-esque hot streak as they prepare to face the Owls on the road. Charlotte has won seven of its last nine games, including a double-overtime thriller against the Wichita State Shockers. However, almost the entirety of the rest of Charlotte's winning stretch came against losing teams, and several of them were close games. The 49ers will now face their biggest challenge since Wichita State, making Wednesday's matchup an excellent test for the surging program.

The Owls have also been swinging in the right direction lately, with wins in nine of their last 11 games. However, they are somehow in a nearly identical situation to Charlotte. Temple has won several close games against bad teams and has not been truly tested by the schedule since mid-December. One of their close victories did come against the 49ers on December 30th, as four starters scored in double digits to stave off a desperate comeback attempt from Charlotte in the closing minutes of the contest. Both of these squads have barely survived a number of close matchups in their recent games, indicating that fans are in for another fun one on Wednesday. Something has to give for one of these teams.

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Note: The above data was collected on Jan. 28, 2026, and may have changed since writing.