Temple Basketball

With six games remaining in the regular season of play, Temple (17-8) must play with a "do-or-die" mentality. Three bad losses in the past month to St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's and Duquesne have jeopardized the Owls' chances at securing an NCAA tournament bid. 

Since the February 2 one-point loss to Saint Joseph's, the Owls have won three of four games. However, the one-point loss to Duquesne might be the worst loss of the season and could not have come at worse time. Duquesne is 8-17 overall and had yet to win an A-10 conference game before stealing a victory on the Owls' home court. 

Temple likely needs to win four of the six remaining games to be a "bubble" team that makes the NCAA tournament. Winning four of the six will be no easy feat, but at least four of the games (La Salle, Detroit, Rhode Island and Virginia Commonwealth) are home games.

A win over ranked VCU would be huge for the Owls' resume and, along with 20 wins, would likely be enough to get them in the tournament. The Owls cannot afford losses at either Rhode Island or Fordham—two teams far below .500. 

The Owls will continue to lean heavily on senior guard Khalif Wyatt who is having a remarkable season and should be a lock for A-10 Player of the Year. Wyatt has averaged 26 PPG over the last 10 games and is averaging 19.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG and 4.0 APG for the season. Wyatt has nabbed consecutive Big Five player-of-the-week honors. 

Graduate Jake O'Brien has been a nice spark off the bench and has averaged 12.5 points over the last four games. Scoring has been hard to come by for the Owls, so O'Brien needs to continue to provide offensive help from the bench. Coach Fran Dunphy should continue to increase O'Brien's minutes as he's played some of his best games when he's played for more than twenty minutes.

Temple has played in the NCAA tournament the past five consecutive seasons but that run may come to an end if the Owls do not better their play down the stretch. For Coach Dunphy and the Owls, it's do-or-die time.

The Temple Owls have been struggling as of late, especially when it comes to closing out games, but will need to use their latest win to spark a run.

With just nine games left, Temple has the chance to solidify an NCAA tournament bid. However, it will need to get hot and string together a streak of wins.

Temple (15-7) got a big victory Wednesday night over the Charlotte 49ers, hanging on to win 89-88. Despite coming away victorious, the Owls showed the biggest weakness that has slowed their success.

The Owls have a problem with blowing leads and finishing off games. They blew a 13-point first-half lead over the 49ers and Charlotte tied things up at 41 at the half.

Later in the game, the Owls notched a 12-point lead with 3:37 remaining in the game thanks to a three-pointer by senior Jake O'Brien. Temple would again blow its lead, giving Charlotte multiple chances to tie the game in the final 27 seconds.

Missed free throws and turnovers down the stretch were the main reasons for the Owls' late-game struggles. Senior Scootie Randall turned the ball over three times in the final two minutes and Khalif Wyatt, another senior, turned the rock over twice during that stretch.

In the their 69-70 loss to Saints Joseph's on Saturday, the Owls similarly lost a nine-point lead with 5:39 left in the game.

This is something that Temple must improve in order to put together a much-needed hot streak. The Owls are currently tied for ninth in the A-10. In order to make the tourney, they will have to win the majority of their remaining games—all against conference foes.

Temple needs to use this victory over Charlotte as a boost to put together a string of conference wins. Charlotte (17-5) has put together a solid season, now fourth in the A-10 standings. The 49ers are No. 54 in RPI according to ESPN.

The win by Temple was an important, much-needed one against a tough team. The Owls are No. 47 in ESPN RPI, mainly due to their tough schedule and a key win over No. 7 RPI Syracuse.

As of February 5, Joe Lunardi has Temple listed as one of the last four teams to make the tournament.

The Owls will need to finish strong and pick up some wins over the stronger A-10 opponents. Remaining games for Temple include home matchups against La Salle (No. 27 RPI) and VCU.

Temple has been solid at home, winning 10 of its 12 games at the Liacouras Center. Five of its next nine games are at home and it will need to continue its home-court success.

In order for Temple to make the 2013 NCAA Tournament, it must put together a winning streak coming off of Wednesday's big win. Picking up a win over La Salle or VCU would also give the Owls a good chance of making the tourney.

Otherwise, they will need to be impressive in the A-10 tournament.

Fifteen games into the 2012-13 season and Temple is playing as good as they possibly can. The Owls began the season on a six-game winning streak, upset then No. 3 Syracuse and fought valiantly against top-10 ranked Kansas.

The Owls stand at 11-4 overall and 1-1 in Atlantic 10 play. Temple has 15 games remaining, and all but one are conference games. They face their biggest challenges  against No. 15 Butler, No. 22 VCU, Charlotte and Big 5 foe La Salle. The good news for Temple is that all of those games are at home (there is a home and away game against Charlotte) where the Owls play exceedingly well. 

To lock up a tourney bid, the Owls' magic number of wins before the A-10 conference tournament is 20. This is a very attainable number as Temple needs to win 9 of the next 15 games to reach 20. Five of those games are against teams currently under .500. The upset win over Syracuse was a great resume booster, but a win over conference foes Butler or VCU would solidify their chances greatly. 

The biggest surprise of the season has to be sophomore forward Anthony Lee, who looks poised to be one of the next great Temple big men. Lee is averaging 12.2 points and 7.3 rebounds. Lee has played very well in big games this season, scoring 21 points in the win against Syracuse and 20 in the win over Saint Louis. The Owls will need Lee to continue his great play in the second half of the season.

The final 15 games will be very exciting as the Owls finish their final season in the A-10 before departing for the Big East. Temple has the talent and coaching to win the conference, which would be a fitting capstone to their final season in the A-10. 

The Temple Owls had a chance to break a historic record held by the Kansas Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon. Despite what looked to be a potential Top 10 upset, Kansas pulled away in the closing moments to win, 69-62.

Had Temple won, it would have snapped Kansas' streak of 62 straight home victories over non-conference opponents. However, down the stretch, Kansas made the big plays when it needed to, and Temple just could not.

After a first half that was mainly controlled by the Jayhawks, Temple stormed back and led a large portion of the second half. Trailing by six at the half, the Owls went on a 22-7 run midway through the second to gain a four-point lead with 10:58 remaining.

The two teams battled back and forth before KU's Ben McLemore stole a Will Cummings pass and threw down a monstrous dunk on the other end, giving the Jayhawks a 58-57 lead with 2:50 left that they wouldn't relinquish.

The bright spot for the Owls was, yet again, senior Khalif Wyatt, who had a game-high 26 points. Other than Wyatt's heroic play, Temple really struggled from the field, shooting a horrific 30.2 percent and making just 19 shots for the game.

Multiple times in the second half, Temple went on lengthy droughts without making a field goal. After taking their first lead of the half on a three-pointer by Wyatt with 14:49 remaining, the Owls went nearly seven minutes without making another shot until Wyatt made a layup to retake the lead, 52-50.

With 5:01 left in the game, Cummings hit a huge three to give Temple a 57-54 lead. The shot by Cummings—who made some huge plays for the Owls in the contest and finished with 11 points—was the last one that Temple would make until Wyatt got one to go with 25 seconds remaining in the game.

Kansas (12-1) was able to make its free throws when it mattered to put the game away for good. Senior center Jeff Withey, who stands 7'0", disrupted Temple's offense down the stretch, finishing with an astonishing nine blocks. Kevin Young added 16 points for the Jayhawks, including six critical free throws in the final five minutes.

Temple (10-3) nearly pulled off its second Top 10 upset of the season after being just over two weeks removed from an 83-79 victory over Syracuse. The Owls start Atlantic 10 conference play on Thursday, as they travel to Xavier.

As for Kansas, this win was their 30th straight victory at home. The Jayhawks begin their Big 12 schedule by hosting Iowa State on Wednesday.

The Temple Owls beat the Syracuse Orange 83-79 Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden in New York. Senior guard Khalif Wyatt had 33 points and sophomore big man Anthony Lee had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Owls, both setting career highs in scoring. Syracuse forward C.J. Fair also recorded a career high with 25 points, but that was not enough to overcome Temple’s strong shooting.

The win was Temple’s fifth victory over a top 10 opponent in the past five seasons. Syracuse (10-1) is third in both the AP and USA Today polls. Although the Orange shot better (44.6 percent) on the day than Temple (39 percent), the difference in the game was free-throw shooting.

The Owls hit 29-of-36 free throw attempts (80 percent) compared to a lowly 55.6 percent by Syracuse. Wyatt was perfect from the charity stripe making all 15 of his free throws. Temple also hit eight three-pointers, while Syracuse connected on just two.

In a game where the officials seemed to not lay off of their whistles, executing from the line was very important. Overall 46 fouls were called in the contest drawing irritation from both squads. Syracuse fans, which filled the majority of the seats, showed their displeasure with the officiating often.

However, the Orange had plenty of chances from the line, but could not execute. Sophomore guard Michael Carter-Williams struggled throughout, especially from the line, making just seven of his 15 free-throw attempts.

Temple (9-2) just seemed to out-hustle the Orange on numerous possessions. Lee especially played hard, scrapping for every rebound and tough point he could. Along with his 21 points, Lee grabbed 11 rebounds and hit 11 of 14 free throw attempts.

On the other hand, the big men for Syracuse struggled as starters Dajuan Coleman and Rakeem Christmas combined for just four points. Brandon Triche got hot early on, but was slowed in the second half finishing with 17 points. Baye-Moussa Keita scored 12 points and grabbed eight boards.

Both teams came into Saturday’s matchup coming off of disappointing performances earlier in the week. Temple suffered its second loss of the season Wednesday falling to Canisius 72-62 where they shot just 4-of-28 from beyond the arc.

Syracuse managed to defeat Detroit 72-68 for Jim Boeheim’s 900th win, but nearly blew a 22-point second-half lead. Syracuse's leading scorer James Southerland had 22 points in that game, but the Owls held him to just six points Saturday. Carter-Williams, who leads the country in assists, had only six against Temple and was just 3-of-17 from the field.

Syracuse scored their first bucket just seconds into the game and had as large as a 10-point lead in the first half. The Owls climbed their way back to make it just a two-point game at the half.

The second half was a completely different story as it took the Orange over four-and-a-half minutes to make their first basket and Temple got off to a 13-2 run to start the half. Wyatt had 20 points at halftime and continued that success into the second. This is not the first time Wyatt has had a big game against a top opponent. He had 22 in Temple’s upset victory over Duke last season in Philadelphia.

Fran Dunphy’s Owls have been a giant killer in each of their previous five seasons. In 2008 they brought down No. 8 Tennessee, the following year it was No. 2 Villanova, and then they upset No. 8 Georgetown in 2010 before last season’s win over Duke.

Temple responded to a tough loss with perhaps their best outing of the year against the Orange. Though the thousands of Orange fans did what they could to try to lift their team, Temple was able to keep the Garden silent for most of the second half. Syracuse hosts Alcorn State next weekend and Temple will have to face that difficult Detroit squad on Friday, all part of the Gotham Classic.

Side Notes: Carter-Williams played despite being caught shoplifting. Temple students traveled well and were chanting “Lord and Taylor” every time he was at the line, the store in which he allegedly shoplifted.

Keep your eye on The-Ball. That is, keep your eye on the Basketball Alumni Legends League, a new professional basketball league set to launch in the summer of 2013.

The premise of the league is to allow former local college basketball stars the chance to play for their school’s town again. To be eligible for The-Ball, players cannot be under contract with an NBA team.

The-Ball is going to start out as a four-team league in 2013, and expand to eight to 12 teams in 2014. The league can only start to expand if it can get owners for each of the teams.

One of the main goals for The-Ball players is to be scouted by NBA teams, which gives them much incentive to give 100 percent of their effort during this summer league.

Since the league will take place solely during the summer, players will not have to worry about its interference with the professional team they are playing with overseas.  

During the league’s two-game showcase events this year on Aug. 4 and 5, The-Ball showed a competitive nature that is sure to keep players and fans interested. Former local stars from Philadelphia went up head to head against the star alumni from the Washington DC area.

After Team Philly took one to the chin on Saturday in a 111 to 93 beating at George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Athletic Center, they came back with more poise on Sunday at Saint Joseph’s Hagan Arena.

Leading the way for Team Philly were two former Big 5 stars, Pat Carroll and Curtis Sumpter, who decided that The-Ball showcase would be their last professional games.

“It just brings it all together,” Former St Joes star Pat Carroll said after playing his final game at the Hagan Arena. “Just seeing Philly basketball it’s got to be a connection. … Playing with all these guys again, and like Dionte [Former Temple Standout Dionte Christmas] was saying with our rivals [Other players from City 6 Schools], now we can play as Philly basketball.”

When asked why he has decided to retire from professional basketball, Sumpter responded, “My body just won’t hold up. I’m sure tomorrow I won’t be able to get up.”

These two Big 5 alumni would not go out however without experiencing the exciting new rules The-Ball has to offer.

For one, there is now a 4-point line (yes, you read that correctly) extending 25 feet from the center of each basket. This line is more than a foot deeper than the NBA three-point line and gives teams the opportunity to quickly get back in the game.

These long shots also lead to long rebounds, which creates exciting fast-break opportunities.

Dionte Christmas was showing off his 4-point range early in the third quarter, but former Georgetown star Chris Wright brought his team back into the game by knocking down a clutch 4 late in the fourth quarter to tie the game up at 87.

Teams are also only allowed two timeouts per game, which speeds up the game while creating less down time. 

The rules also change when there are five minutes or less in the fourth quarter. The shot clock gets reduced from 30 seconds to 20 in order to give the trailing team more of a chance.

Also, it is a major disadvantage for either team to foul at the end.  The penalty for a foul is that the opposing team gets one free throw (worth two points) plus the ball.

So not only does fouling not help the trailing team get back in the game, it furthers the deficit even greater.

“For one, guys have to play smart,” Sumpter said of these rules with five minutes to go in the game. “We have to concentrate more because as you see, you can be up 12 and then lose in a matter of a couple possessions.”

Team Philly was up by 11 points with just less than seven minutes to go, but a combination of fouls drawn by Team DC and clutch long distance shooting by former GTown teammates Chris Wright and Jason Clark left Philly quickly down by six with 2:43 on the clock.

“One of the things I have not been a big fan of, as much as I love college basketball, has been when you get late in the game, everything kind of comes to a stop,” The-Ball Founder and CEO Michael Wranovics says while elaborating on his rule changes at the end of games.

“There’s great basketball all game long and then everything comes to a screeching halt. The game becomes a bunch of intentional fouls ... a bunch of whistles and a bunch of free throws. One of the things we’ve done [at The-Ball] is give only one shot every time there is a free throw [for the amount of points that shot is worth] and we are taking out the incentive to commit fouls.”

Wranovics explained that with these rules the game should be even faster paced than regular college basketball. Also, the last few minutes of the game will be played more similarly to the first three quarters, rather than being drawn out.

“If you know that the other team is going to keep the ball … there is no incentive to commit these fouls anymore. We just want end to end action. … The team ahead cannot just run clock, but there is also no room for those intentional fouls.”

With all these new rules to The-Ball, the result is a fast paced game with few stops in the action, which is sure to keep the attention of the fans.

Although Team Philly did go down 102-94 in the end, fans stayed and were engaged throughout the entire game.

And with St. Joes head coach Phil Martelli and NBA players Lavoy Allen and Jameer Nelson in attendance, how is it not possible to get excited about the future of this league.

A lot of hard work has been put into The-Ball by Wranovics to find owners for the different teams, and he truly believes that this league can help out not only in showcasing the players, but bringing college basketball cities together.

As Wranovics explains, The-Ball could be “…a little madness after March.”

Zack Lessner is a Correspondent for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from The-Ball.

 

Follow me on Twitter @ZLess1995

If you have any questions about the rules or just about The-Ball in general, send me a tweet or write a comment down below.

The Daskalakis Athletic Center's buzzer sounded, and then there were none. Drexel had lost to UMass, a team that beat up on Philadelphia teams all season. No teams were playing, and the 2011-2012 season was officially over for the City Six. All that is left is to relive the memories, the good and the bad:

1. Temple Owls (24-7):

The Temple Owls brought many exciting moments to the city this season. Remember beating Duke? Wichita State in OT? How about Khalif Wyatt's game winner against Delaware, or Anthony Lee's tip-in buzzer beater against Buffalo?

All these moments were forgotten. The Owls were a disappointment in postseason play, falling to UMass in their first game of the Atlantic Ten tournament and to USF in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. A great regular season but sub-par postseason.

Still, there are moments to cheer about if you bleed Cherry & White. Give them a break. The 24-7 Owls were the obvious powerhouse in Philadelphia this season, with its only City Six loss to Saint Joseph's on the road. Temple ruled the Atlantic 10, with a 13-3 regular season record to show for it.

Ramone Moore and Khalif Wyatt were the best duo in the A-10, let alone the city. Both averaged 17 Points Per Game.

Hey! Don't forget Juan Fernandez. The senior averaged 12 PPG, and was always there for a big shot.

Temple Loses:

• Juan Fernandez (12 PPG)
• Ramone Moore (17 PPG)
• Michael Eric (9 PPG, 9 RBG)

Notable Wins:

• Duke
• Villanova
• Wichita State
• Saint Joe's

Grade: A-
The Owls made distinguished honor roll this season, but that A- could have been higher with a win over USF or UMass. Overall, this team was fantastic.

2. Drexel Dragons (29-7):

Drexel was picked to win the CAA. They were picked to be good. They weren't picked to be GREAT. But that's what this team was. They were great. Not just fun to watch, fun to cover, or fun to analyze, but a solid, steady team. It's unfortunate Drexel did not get an invite to this year's NCAA Tournament, but their low SOS, RPI, and conference haunted the Dragons.

They lost to UMass in the NIT Quarterfinals.

Look, I can spend this season recap discussing why DU did not get in, why their season was a little disappointing and why they need to schedule better teams.

But I won't.

This isn't Temple. They aren't a A10 powerhouse and city favorite. It's Drexel. They play in a small gym, in a small conference, against weak teams. However, their season was just like the Temple Owls.

Drexel dominated their conference in the regular season.

So did Temple.

Drexel fell short in their conference tournament.

So did Temple.

Drexel was a disappointment in the post season.

So was Temple.

Get my point?

This was the best Dragons team in years. The DAC was rocking, the players were rocking and I was rocking. Samme Givens controlled the boards. Frantz Massenat was solid to say the least. Damion Lee was the CAA Freshman of the Year. Even Chris Fouch had his breakout games once in a while!

Drexel's biggest wins came in-conference, at home, against VCU and George Mason. However, those were BIG wins! They have solidified their position as one of the CAA's best.

Ask anyone: Coach Flint, from someone who works for ESPN, to a local hot-dog vendor in Philadelphia.

Drexel was a great basketball team.

Drexel Loses:

• Samme Givens (11.4 PPG, 8 RPG)

Notable Wins:

• VCU
• George Mason
• UCF
• ODU
• UNI

Grade: B+
A trip to the NCAA Tournament would have been nice, but advancing to the NIT Quarterfinals is a pretty solid consolation. The Dragons lose Samme Givens, one of the best players in program history.

3. Saint Joseph's Hawks (20-14):

If someone gave me one word to describe Saint Joseph's 2011-2012 season, this is what I would say:

Average.

That's OK, though. Why?

The Hawks have zero seniors.

Zero.

C.J. Aiken will be back. Langston Galloway will return. Even Carl Jones will be back at Hagan Arena.

Still, it's March. We cannot look forward to next season, but relive this season. The 20-14 Hawks had great moments, beating Creighton, Drexel and Villanova all at home. With only a 9-7 record in the Atlantic Ten, that is where the average(ness) came in.

Saint Joe's started off 2-3 in A10 play, and the season did not get any better with a road loss to the Penn Quakers. The victory over Dayton was relieving and even looked like the previous four losses in January were all flukes.

The loss to Temple was okay, knowing that the Cherry were in first place. Coach Martelli's troops kept marching, knocking off Richmond and La Salle. Then came another loss to Saint Louis, but hope was still there.

Hope was restored after a three game winning streak that lasted only a week, when the Richmond Spiders earned revenge. The Temple game was a must-win game for any chance of an at-large bid.

SJU won the must-win game.

Four days later the team was up in New York taking on Saint Bonaventure, when all havoc broke loose. A 98-93 2OT loss practically eliminated all at-large hopes, and a first-round defeat to (who Else, But...) Saint Bonaventure told Hawk Hill that their squad would not be in the NCAA Tournament.

The Hawks lost five days later the Northern Iowa in the first round of the NIT.

And that, my friends, is the story of average.

Saint Joe's Loses:

NONE

Notable Wins:

• Creighton
• Villanova
• Temple
• Drexel

Grade: B-

Saint Joe's had a B+ regular season, but a C post-season. That averages out to a B-, a grade the Hawks will improve in 2012-2013.

4. La Salle Explorers: (21-13):

If Temple was fantastic, Drexel was great, and Saint Joseph's was average, the La Salle Explorers have to be sub-par. There wasn't a bad team in the City Six this season (OK Maybe Villanova), but La Salle didn't finish the A10 season like it started it.

It was January 111th, and La Salle was 13-4. Fresh off a six-game winning streak and victory over Penn, the Explorers were looking like the favorites for the A10 trophy. Wins over Xavier, UMass, Penn, and Bucknell sympathized La Salle fans, players, and coaches. This team was going to be great.

They then hit a bump in the road, with two straight losses to Dayton and Temple. Was that a fluke? Yes it was. La Salle won four straight after that, improving their record to an astonishing 6-2.

Where was that mediocre, average, and sub-par team? Earl Pettis and Ramon Galloway were stealing the show from other Atlantic Ten stars, and Explorer Nation was at an all-time high.

But then...

They lost to Saint Joseph's.

And Richmond.

And... Saint Louis.

A win over Massachusetts saved their strong start, but three straight losses totally blemished what La Salle had accomplished in the first three months of the 2011-2012 season. The loss to Temple at home, in overtime was a bummer, but the Fordham loss was the tipping point.

Still, the Explorers finished strong with three straight wins to finish the regular season.

Then Philadelphia teams went 0-3 on March 9th. That wasn't good. La Salle and Saint Joe's were practically eliminated from the at-large "race."

They lost to Minnesota in the first round of the NIT, which wasn't a disappointment. La Salle played strong, showed fight, and Jerrell Wright got to be on SportsCenter. Still, a bummer.

La Salle Loses: 

• Earl Pettis (16 PPG)

Notable Wins:

• Xavier
• UMass
• Penn
• Saint Bonaventure

Grade: C+

La Salle does lose their leading scorer, but Galloway and Wright will pick up the slack. A C+ is harsh, but an average regular season and dreadful postseason plagued La Salle's case to make the honor roll.

5. Penn Quakers (20-13):

The Quakers had an up and down season in the Ivy League and fell in the Quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational to Butler. They finished their 2012 campaign 19-12 and 11-3 in the Ivy. Led by Zack Rosen, Penn came within 2 wins of an NCAA tournament berth with a late season run. If they had beaten Princeton in the regular season finale and then won their playoff game with Harvard, they would have gone to the Big Dance.

Rosen was the heart and soul of the team and scored 18.5 ppg in addition to going .407 from three. Everything revolved around him. When Rosen went cold, Penn lost or fell behind. When he got hot, the Quakers could not be stopped. Fellow senior Tyler Bernardini started off hot but struggled late in the season as he was hampered by slumps, injuries and personal matters. Another senior, Rob Belcore, was a clutch role player who gave solid production underneath. He was also one of the most underrated player in the Ivy League.

Penn Loses:

• Zack Rosen (19 PPG)
• Tyler Bernardini (12 PPG)
• Rob Belcore (7 PPG)
• Mike Howlett (3 PPG)

Notable Wins:

• St. Joe's
• Harvard
• Princeton
• Yale

Grade: C-

Sure, they play in the Ivy League, but this team was solid.

6. Villanova Wildcats (13-19):

The 2011-2012 season is a year that the Wildcat faithful would like to forget. Villanova went 13-19 on the season and 5-13 in the Big East as they missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven years. This Wildcat squad was young, inexperienced and just bad. They had no talent on their team aside from Maalik Wayns. Wayns was the one bright spot by averaging 17.6 points per game in the Big East. Unfortunately, he had little help around him. Dominic Cheek was very average and streaky, and Mouphtaou Yarou struggled against most of the Big East. JayVaughn Pinkston, a freshman, seemed to be getting his legs under him late in the season but continued to make mistakes due to his inexperience. Maurice Sutton began to develop his game when he was inserted into the starting lineup but remains uncoordinated and slow.

This team just could not win close games either. They blew 18 point leads at home against Marquette, Notre Dame and Uconn. They challenged everyone down to the wire but could not win. In fact, in games decided by five points or less, the Cats went 2-7. Fortunately, they won their first round game in the Big East Tournament against Rutgers before getting slaughtered by South Florida for the third time.

The team will be getting some solid 4-star recruits next year, and everyone will be another year older, so there is something to look forward to. Ryan Arcidiacono of Neshaminy is a great shooter and can make plays by himself for the young Cats. Big man Daniel Ochefu of Westtown knows how to play with his back to the basket and will add to Villanova's surplus of forwards.

Villanova Loses:

NONE (Wayns & Cheek MAY enter NBA Draft)

Notable Wins:

• Seton Hall
• Penn
• LaSalle

Grade: D+

On to next season, folks.

Nearly three weeks have passed since Temple University accepted an invitation to join the Big East, and no one has offered an argument as to why the school shouldn't have made the move.

That's because there aren't any.

Nearly eight years after the Owls were forced out of the Big East football conference for being "non-competitive", the school was formally invited on March 7 to re-join the conference, this time in all sports.

"This is arguably the greatest day in the history of Temple Athletics," said Temple athletics director Bill Bradshaw.

He couldn't have been more right.

There are nothing but positives surrounding the move for Temple, who currently compete in the Mid-American Conference in football and the Atlantic 10 for all other sports. The combined $4 million in exit fees that the school will have to pay to those two conferences is a small price to pay to join a high-profile league such as the Big East.

Regardless of how well they perform on the field and/or the court, Temple will benefit from a huge increase in revenue once the school is officially readmitted into the Big East for all sports in 2013 (the Owls will join the conference for football later this year).

There's a huge difference between the limited talent one can recruit in the Atlantic 10 and the blue-chip stars a school can entertain as a member of the Big East. The recruiting footprint for Temple basketball won't change all that much, but if they can attract some of the high-level players that would have normally selected Villanova, Pitt, St. John's or Georgetown, it won't be long before they're a perennial top-25 program once again.

"It's going to be a big challenge for Temple," said Temple alum and New Jersey State Senator Jim Whelan." But it's going to be good for football and basketball, all of the sports programs."

Athletics aside, the move will undoubtedly boost the profile of the school nationally. Temple is already the 25th-largest university in the United States, and frequent appearances on ESPN are likely to result in more prospective students choosing to apply to the North Philadelphia institution.

"This move will benefit not just Temple University, its student-athletes, coaches, alumni and fans, but also the city of Philadelphia," said Bradshaw. "We look forward to being a great partner in this great conference, to renewing old rivalries and forging new ones."