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SMU v UCONN. Tulsa v Cincy

Not for nothing but UCONN just beat SMU clearing the way for a Temple outright championship. I know, still a long way to go but it's something. In all honesty who would have thought we would be in this position this late in the season. Needless to say the next two games will go a long way in defining our season. Hopefully the boys will put Nova behind them and move forward.

Cincy v Tulsa in a close one. Not sure who you root for.

Go Owls

Tonight's environment

Those 30/45 seconds prior to the tip tonight when the crowd was roaring and music blasting was an incredible experience as an Owl fan. I'm sure everyone on this board that was there was just taking it in how amazing that environment was. It may have been the most electric arena I have ever been in ... even though it didn't last long. I ended up getting in without a ticket so I can tell you that nearly ever seat in the arena was taken.

Wish our boys could have got it going early to keep that crowd hostile. When the Liacorus Center fills up, it is one of the top facilities in the country. We are extremely lucky to call it home.

It was in that minute or so leading up to the tip that I saw what this program could potentially be. Watching Nova's freshman PG really hurts my soul knowing what could have been.

Next year....

Sorry to jump ahead to next year, but with Bond and Q departing, we better hope that Ernest is healthy and develops as a player who can stay on the floor, because otherwise, I don't know where our rebounds and defense down low come from? Bond and Q are our two top rebounders, by far. Are we going to see a two headed monster of Mark Williams and Dingle? Lowe for all his athleticism is a beanpole. I'm not counting on Damion Moore contributing anything next year (hope I'm wrong).

2016 SIGNEES

6-5 G Quinton Rose is having a nice season at Bishop Kearney in Rochester, N.Y. In 12 games, he's averaging 20.8 PPG, 5.5 Bds, 2.5 assts, 2.4 stls, 1.5 blocks.

5-10 PG Alani Moore is having a nice season. Here's a nice story on him from the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...d14a5c-ce97-11e5-b2bc-988409ee911b_story.html

6-11 C Damion Moore's stats: In 22 games, he's averaging 11.3 ppg, 8.5 bds, 1.1 blocks.

Villanova

How are we feeling about this game? Should be an incredible atmosphere, the Liacouras Center will be rocking. Obviously we've been streaky this year but if we shoot the lights out like we have anything is possible. Need a big night from Decosey and Obi needs to step up. I don't know if I've ever wanted a win for Temple basketball this bad. Please smoke those mainline clowns and ruin their #1 ranking in the process!
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Temple Basketball vs. #1 Villanova NYC Game Watch at Shorty's Flatiron

Join fellow Temple alumni at Philly-themed Shorty's Flatiron in NYC at 6pm on Wednesday, 2/17, as the Owls take on #1 Villanova! Temple, sitting squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble, looks to upset the arch-enemy, top-ranked Wildcats at home on ESPN2.

As always, Shorty's Flatiron will feature the game on numerous TVs with sound included, while serving up New York's BEST CHEESESTEAKS, and will offer TU alumni happy hour-priced beer and mixed drinks throughout the game!

***The Temple University Alumni Club of Metropolitan New York is also proud to offer one FREE DRINK to each alum in attendance!***

When you arrive at Shorty's Flatiron, please be sure to mention that you're with the Temple University Alumni Association to receive your drink ticket and access to all specials!

Shorty's Flatiron is located at 66 Madison Ave. (between 27th and 28th St.). Check out their website: http://www.shortysnyc.com/madison.php

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Rhule restructures staff

According to the latest roster update, Temple coach Matt Rhule has shifted his coaching staff around.

Check out our front-page story for the full list of changes.

My initial takeaway from these developments:

We don't have specifics but it was definitely rumored that Rhule's extension also included more money for his assistants. In order to justify these raises, however, I'd imagine that the football program had to give out some new titles.

The interesting titles, to me at least, are Francis Brown's and Elijah Robinson's. Brown is now an associate head coach while Robinson is now the defensive passing game coordinator. Brown and Robinson, as I'm sure you're all aware, have been two of Rhule's best recruiters over the last couple of years.

There were some rumblings that Robinson was being courted for some outside jobs so this could serve as a way of keeping him in place. If I'm Rhule, I likely tell Robinson that Phil Snow is a few years away from retirement and having a new title with coordinator in it could help Robinson if he wants to become a DC.

Temple's success in the AAC this year (all sports)

I was curious how Temple was doing in conference play across all sports compared to the rest of the AAC, so I did some math.

I was a bit surprised to see that Temple has the best in-conference winning percentage of all AAC schools at 68.75%. Here is the list in order:

Temple: 68.75%
UConn: 67.14%
SMU: 61.42%
USF: 54.86%
Cincy: 52.11%
Tulsa: 50.69%
Memphis: 50%
UH: 39.68%
UCF: 35.91%
Tulane: 29.62%
ECU: 26.61%


I bolded the three schools (UH, Tulane, ECU) who do not sponsor all six sports (FB, MSoc, WSoc, VB, MBB, WBB). Obviously, it's important to succeed in football and basketball, but having a well-rounded athletics program is very important. I don't think Temple gets credit for that, and it seems we are improving in that area quite a bit. If the soccer programs continue to improve, we'll really have something.

The goddess of Temple basketball got home just in time!

I often refer to my wife as the goddess of Temple hoops. We had season tickets from 1983 until we moved after the 2001 season. She never missed a home game and we attended several NCAA tournament games. Her win / loss record is amazing. Last night she had an outing and when she got home I said we're in trouble, we are down twelve. She calmly took off her coat, sat down and the rest is history!
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