Philadelphia is getting to be an expert at putting on championship parades.
The city will welcome the Villanova Wildcats as champions for the second time in three years, with a parade beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday.
The parade will begin in South Philadelphia and end at City Hall. The team is expected to appear at a rally around 11:45 a.m. at City Hall, ending around 12:30 p.m., which should give fans time to head back south to Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies' home opener against the Marlins at 3 p.m.
The city held a parade along the same route after Villanova's stunning win over North Carolina to win the title in 2016. Villanova footed the cost for that parade.
Villanova is not actually in Philadelphia. It is about 12 miles west of the city on the storied Main Line. But the Wildcats are a member of Philly's famed Big 5, an informal association of the five college programs that play basketball and compete for the city's Big 5 title -- Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple, La Salle and Villanova.
An estimated 60,000 turned out for the Wildcats' 2016 parade, tame compared to the 700,000 raucous fans who came out the Thursday after the Super Bowl to celebrate the Eagles' championship.
Villanova canceled classes Tuesday, after the Wildcats' 79-62 win over Michigan that gave Jay Wright's team its second title in three years.