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Big Five; Little Cache: Penn Mystery Cache

Hidden : 8/22/2015
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

As usual, there is no container at the listed coordinates.

These coordinates will bring you to a storied place in Philadelphia college basketball history: The Palestra. For more than sixty years, Philadelphia's Big 5 — LaSalle, Pennsylvania, St. Joseph’s, Temple and Villanova — have waged college basketball’s biggest, most envied, unique, and frenetic, intracity rivalry.


The Big 5 was formed in 1955 in order to showcase the rich basketball talent in the city and help pay for the upkeep on the Palestra, where the games historically took place. All schools agreed to split ticket and concessions revenues equally once Penn was paid for upkeep costs on the Palestra. The intense rivalries between the teams and the proximity of the schools and their fans make the Big 5 a unique tradition in college basketball. {from Wikipedia}

To find the cache, you must answer five questions about the University of Pennsylvania men's basketball team. 2001-02 was the most recent year that the Quakers won the Big 5 Title, going 4-0 (25-7 overall).

The cache coordinates are N 39° 56.ABC W 075° 11.XYZ.

A = the first digit of the number that is the official capacity of the Palestra.
B = the number of times that the Quakers played in the NCAA tournament during the 1980's.
C = the number of seasons that the Quakers were recognized as National Champions.
X = the number of times that the Quakers played in the NCAA tournament during the 1990's.
YZ = the last two digits of the year that the Quakers appeared in the NCAA Final Four minus six.


You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.

Extreme stealth may be necessary to retrieve this cache. Also, GPS units tend to bounce in the city. Use the hint and think about where a logical hiding place would be.

Congratulations to Pezgirl and Forbez for FTF.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

zntargvp anab

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)