Monday, February 18, 2013
Owls bouncing back?
By Luke Lapinski
Two weeks ago, we wrote about Temple being squarely on the bubble. Then the Owls went out and knocked off Charlotte and Dayton in less than a week to build up their resume for Selection Sunday.
They greatly hurt their chances at landing an invite to the Big Dance this past week though. That's what a loss to Duquesne -- at home, no less -- will do to you. Fran Dunphy did get his guys to bounce back with a vital win over Massachusetts on Saturday, however, and now Temple is right back in the race. There's very little margin for error though. The Owls come in at No. 70 on Joe Lunardi's latest edition of Bracket Math, putting them right in the dreaded "first four out" zone.
They still have some opportunities to make up ground though, with games against La Salle, Charlotte and No. 24 Virginia Commonwealth left on the schedule. The Explorers are in a good spot to make the NCAA Tournament right now, the 49ers are on the bubble with Temple and the Rams are well on their way again. Picking up a couple wins against that group of opponents -- while also winning the games they should win -- could do wonders for the Owls. And that says nothing of the opportunities the Atlantic 10 Tournament will present.
