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Here is the latest from the Temple Owls Insider and upcoming scheduled events:
TSP is back online…V27
To Read more on these events and other school information go to OwlSports.com
Tags: Philly Sports Events, Philly Sports News, Temple, Temple Insider, Temple Owls, Temple Owls Insider, Temple Sports, TSP, TSP NCAA News
Source: WPVI-Philadelphia
For only the third time since the 2000 NCAA Tournament, the city of Philadelphia was being represented by three teams in the tournament nicknamed “March Madness.” For a short time, Philadelphia had suddenly become a hotbed for college basketball talk. Villanova, coming off of a strong 29-win season, earned a two-seed in the South region, while Temple was handed the tenth-seed in that same region. Luckily for Jay Wright’s and Fran Dunphy’s squads, they only had to make the short trip to Brooklyn for their games. Unfortunately, Phil Martelli’s Hawks got the unlucky draw of a cross-country trip to Spokane, Washington, where the eighth-seeded Hawks would do battle with the ninth-seeded Cincinnati Bearcats.
With all three games being played on Friday, the city was on pins and needles all day. The Wildcats got things off to a great start, steamrolling UNC Asheville by a whopping 30 points. Daniel Ochefu led the ‘Cats with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while ‘Nova shot 57.9% from the field as a team. Arguably, Villanova’s strongest skill is their three-point shooting, of which they shot just over 46% against the Bulldogs. Things were iffy early on, as Asheville hung around until about the 4:45 mark of the first half, when the Wildcats began what would amount to an 18-7 run, that would leave ‘Nova in the lead by 14 at the half. From there, the second-seeded Villanova was on cruise control, with the terrifying question beginning to re-appear; can they advance past the first weekend?
Following the Wildcats, were the Temple Owls. The 10th-seeded Owls were set to take on the 7th-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes opened up the game, sinking six-of-nine three-point attempts. After jumping out to a 28-18 lead, both Iowa and Temple traded shots for the rest of the game. With five minutes left in the game, the Owls trailed 61-53. Amazingly, only twelve points were scored over the remaining five minutes, including three clutch free-throws by Temple’s Quenton DeCosey that tied the game at 63 with two seconds left. The level of play would carry over to the extra period, as both teams left it all out on the court. Unfortunately for the Owls, they were bested by Iowa big man Adam Woodbury, who put back the second-chance layup to give the Hawkeyes the stunning buzzer-beater. Philly was now down to a pair of teams in the “Big Dance.”
To watch the heartbreaking end, click on the link below.
Tags: March Madness, March Madness Philly, NCAA tournament, St.Joseph's Hawks, Temple Owls, villanova wildcats
Go OWLS!!!
As most of us know here in Philly, Temple is giving the Philly Sports Fans a shot in the arm with some much needed enthusiasm. It’s been a long time since Philly fielded a contender in college football and I think everyone is appreciative of Temple’s efforts. They have a big game this week against Notre Dame (6-1) and if Temple brings home the win, it will be huge.
The Owls are sporting a 7-0 record and currently ranked #21 in the AP poll, the highest ranking they’ve had since 1979. Notre Dame is currently ranked #9.
TalkSportsPhilly is sending out its support and appreciation no matter what happens with Notre Dame, but lets win this one anyway…..Go Owls!!!
Tags: Christopher Leomporra, NCAA News, Notre Dame, Philadelphia Sports News, Philly College Sports, TalkSportsPhilly, Temple Football News, Temple News, Temple Owls, Temple Sports News, Temple vs Notre Dame
So who had the Temple Owls going 4-0 to start the season? Certainly not this reporter, but that is exactly what they have done. After s shocking win against Penn State in the opener, Temple has gone on to defeat Cincinnati, Umass and UNC Charlotte to get to where they are today. And what’s more impressive is that the latter 3 wins were all on the road. Now before anybody starts proclaiming Temple can win 10 games this year, lets remember that they are just now getting to the best and potatoes of their schedule. Granted they are good right now, but I think we need to hold judgement until after a Halloween match-up with Notre Dame (currently number 15 in the polls) before we make any kind of assumptions about this team.
Now I am not saying that it can’t be done, however, they will need to rely on their offense which 
currently ranks 99th in the nation in passing yards averaging only 189 yards per game. And the running game is only slightly better with the Owls averaging 159.2 yards per game, good for 88th in the country through 4 games. The saving grace for Temple has been their stout defense which has allowed 15.5 points per game which is 16th in the nation. But they cannot continuously rely on their defense to win games. It will have to start with the offense and QB P.J Walker who has only thrown for 731 yards and 5 touchdowns through the first 4 games and has a QBR rating of 47.3 according to ESPN, which is not good for any Quarterback but especially not so for Walker who needs to start impressing people over the next few weeks.
Now getting back to the schedule, I see games upcoming against Tulane and Central Florida in the next 2 weeks, both of which are at home but both could be lose-able games. And then they go on the road for a Thursday Night Clash against East Carolina on October 22 before coming home to face Notre Dame on Halloween in what could potentially be the game of the year for the Owls. Could they be 8-0 by that point? Not in my honest opinion. Could they be 4-4 or somewhere in between? Very possible if not likely. And November could prove to be just as though with road games against SMU and South Florida to begin the month before ending the season with 2 home games against Memphis and Connecticut. Somehow I can very easily see an 8-4 record for this team which is more than good enough for a bowl game but as far as taking the next step is concerned, Im going to say Stay Tuned.
Tags: Is Temple for real, NCAA, NCAA News, Owls News, Philly Sports News, Robert Waterman, TalkSportsPhilly, Temple Owls
“You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.”
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