"After a poor performance last year, the Big East championship sank even lower in its second year on FS1"

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Yesterday received a nice handwritten note from our Kip Patton. Unexpected, too, for all I did was match Conwell's birthday twice during the recent fundraising celebration of our founder's birthday. I, like anyone, was flattered by the note, which was encouragement for me to do more for the university in a few months.

This is cause for optimism because it demonstrates the thoroughness of TU's Institutional Development and the commitment of the players to the future of their university. A seemingly small thing is thus a big deal in the progress of Temple.

The other cause for optimism is I looked up Mr. Patton to flesh out what I already knew about him. He is a talented athlete who was red shirted. Unlike the Previous Occupant at head coach, the current one has the discipline and vision to hold off from the panicked plucking of reinforcements from our many redshirts in hopes of grabbing an extra win or two. This must have taken great resolve considering the difference 1-2 more wins would have made to our 2014 football team.

This is cause for optimism because it demonstrates there is a plan to build a comptete and deep team to compete at the top level of the conference, go to a bowl, and bring recognition to itself and Temple. A little deferred gratification will yield much greater results.

GO Owls

Per his twitter, as expected, Pitt transfer Adonis Jennings is coming to Temple.

Jennings Twitter

Congrats to the Temple Commit and now Gatorade National Player of the year Levan Alston!

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/gatorade-pennsylvania-boys-basketball-poy-levan-shawn-alston

UCLA up six with 9 minutes to go. How badly would it stink if SMU layed an egg in this game after all the UCLA hate talk since Sunday?

WBAL in Baltimore is reporting this morning that Pierce got arrested for DUI.

Before coming to the board. I was pretty hot.

I do believe we got snubbed, but at the end of the day, we didn't finish as strong a we could have.

A lack of talent and depth hurt us. Vastly improved over last heat, but still not good enough.

I hope this is a lesson to the powers at be. It's time for change. Dunpny bought himself time with this years incoming class, but don't expect to go dancing next year on the feet of freshman saviors.

We are in rebuild mode with a 67 year old at the helm. The future is bleak.

The perfect time for a gracious exit, and turn the program over to McKie.

If we don't make the tourney next year we will be in total rebuild mode as I truly believe Dunphy will "retire".
Posted from Rivals Mobile

What a finish, Cincinnati ! Really unbelievable intensity! Go American!

Did Dunphy really say in the interview, " If this is the most disappointed they will be in life, then they will have a good life?" Hell, time goes by so quickly...these kids deserved a chance to go to the dance.....they may not get there again......They did not deserve this half-ass, collect my paycheck effort that Mr. Lasalle, Penn, Dunphy is giving us...

Just one more reason to increase the level of opponents OOC and a better SOS!! Coach Chaney said, "ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME!" That's how you recruit top tier players! Kids want to play the BIGS not the chumps! I would think there will be a major upgrade in the schedule forthcoming instead of still living in Mid Major land! Hell, the A10 has 3 teams in.

Anyway, here is SI's take on our NOT being there! Just another flower on the headstone!

GO OWLS!! BEAT BUCKNELL!!

Top 5 Snubs

Temple matches up well against GW. VCU used a small lineup against the Colonials and whipped them both times. I think the Owls can duplicate that performance and get the win.

Nice job by the Big 12 representing. Down goes Baylor, Down goes Iowa State. You have to love it.

The linked article from CBS sports is just conjecture from the Notre Dame AD but it seems odd where the author has Temple listed.
This post was edited on 3/18 3:27 PM by malenko

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/25112658/notre-dame-ad-has-a-vision-of-two-college-athletic-associations

Hey everyone,

The Cherry Crusade is participating in an inter-student section bracket challenge to raise money for charity. It is run by the group Fantasy Sports for Charity. You can join our team by clicking the attached link, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and finding our team page (unfortunately, there is no direct link as of now).

Your first entry is FREE, and a second entry is free if you share on social media. Other entries (up to 10 total) cost a minimum donation of $5. The first 10K entries will earn $1 for charity, so it is worth it to join now and fill out your bracket later. All the money we raise will be donated to the Mary Kline Classic, which raises money for cancer research (http://maryklineclassic.com/donate/).

The bigger our team is, the more money we raise, and the better the chance we have to earn more prize money for a great cause. How all of that works is outlined in the flyer below.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at tue61073@temple.edu.

See you all on Saturday. ALWAYS BELIEVE and GO OWLS!


Bracket Challenge Home Page

Someone please post action and score updates--I'm not pulling in any of the broadcast streams.

What is going on here. Innocent until proven guily, but .......
https://twitter.com/thetemplenews/status/577660484675084288

Watched the 30 for 30 show the other night dedicated to the formation of the Big East. Not so sure all the facts in 30 for 30 episodes are correct, but I digress...

A poster on another site claimed Temple was invited to join at one point and declined. Claimed that Pitt was a big advocate of Temple joining the conference. I vaguely remember the part about Pitt... That said I find it hard to believe Temple would ever have turned down an invite, but I don't know all the history.

Was curious what others knew about our past dealings with the Big East...

. . . why does our game get shunted off to ESPN3?

I love TUBB. I also Chipotle, country music, and long walks on the beach. I digress.

Looking to the future, and recognizing Granpappy Dunph is here to stay, who are we targeting for 2016?

Lots of buzz around the 14 and 15 recruiting cycles with Jordan and Brunson. Are we in on any big 16 names that are game changers types -- that maybe Dunphy, McKie, et al could finally close the deal on?

I've been thinking a lot about where Villanova was 2-3 seasons ago. And how quickly recruiting changed things for them.

Jay got his PG in Arch, and then built a team around him.

I am not sure I have seen that approach here. We have some good pieces coming in, but uncertainty at the PG position, and no depth. Seems ass backwards to me. Is it because we put all our eggs in the Brunson basket?
What's the likelihood we can get a decent PG on the court for next season? Transfers? JUCO? Anyone not sign yet? I'd love to see Temple come in late and steal a recruit for a change. Why not us?
Posted from Rivals Mobile

Levan Alston and Trey Lowe have been selected to the Jordan Brand Regional team and will play in that all-star showcase game at the Barclays Center.

Alston, Lowe

This morning at the CVC Breakfast Martelli slammed the NCAA hard for allowing the Power 5 to take over the NCAA Tourney selection process. Basically what saying the Power 5 was supposed to stay out of basketball but it's more than obvious they didn't. Thought the exact same thing as the bracket was being announced last night. On another front it would be nice to know if Aresco had been contacting committee members over the last few weeks lobbying for AAC schools. He's really not part of the collegiate administrators "club" so I'm thinking probably not, especially since what happened with the bowl selection process.

I'm reading and hearing that next year's opponents are being shared with the local media. Is that list complete? How soon will we know who we will face?

I have been unable to root for Villanova after all the conference shenanigans. I could root for Drexel, LaSalle or even St. Joes, but not Villanova. I hope they lose in crushing fashion, but I'm curious to see the distribution among other Temple faithful.

New AD there, missed NCAA for second straight year, sound similar? Sounds like she's willing to rattle the hornets nest, meanwhile the situation is stagnant on North Broad.......

UNLV

Paul VI power forward Corey Manigault has cut his list to five, and Temple did not make the cut. The Owls had been recruiting him.

Manigault