By Kyle Soppe
The Temple Owls are a NCAA tournament team, it’s that simple. There is no way this years Owls should not be considered among the 64 best teams in the country, and those who have seen this team do battle, wouldn’t be surprised to see this team playing in March Madness’ second weekend.
Let’s first run down the numbers behind this claim. Temple (21-9, 13-1) has been solid all season, and are peaking at the right time. Their only loss in the last six weeks of the regular season was a “closer than the score reflects” nine point loss to the 16th rated Bonnies of St. Bonaventure.
Richmond’s Abby Oliver, whoTemple defeated at the buzzer, was impressed with what this Temple team accomplished over the long season. “They only lost one game (St. Bonaventure) in a very strong conference that has 6-7 very good teams. Only one loss in this league is very impressive.”
In fact, of the Owls nine defeats, six have been to teams currently ranked in the AP’s top 25, with four of those teams in the top 17. Respected bracketologist Charlie Creme has five of the teams to defeat Temple as at least a seven seed in the upcoming madness.
Dayton (the A-10 tournament champion) defeated Temple and played themselves into an automatic bid. While the Flyers were slightly better than the Owls on this night (their back and forth game was the most competitive game of the weekend), Temple still owns an impressive win at Dayton. The road win was the best of the season for the Owls, who also fought and clawed their way to a victory at Richmond’s Robins Center. While critics will point to the lack of “marquee” wins for the Owls, but winning two games road games against the top four in the A-10 is an impressive feat.
For the season, despite a plethora of ranked teams and a solid A-10 conference, the Owls outscored their opponents by nine points per game. Speaking of their difficult schedule, their RPI ranked favorably to a handful of tournament bound teams. Temple ranked 48th, better than Florida Gulf Coast, Michigan State, UTEP, and Virgina among others. Strength of schedule is another statistic in which the number crunching selection committee looks at when filling out the bracket. Well, the Owls had the toughest schedule in the A-10, and topped certain tourney teams in Princeton, Wisconsin Green Bay, Middle Tennessee State, and Ohio State.
A final way of determining March dancers is the “eye test”. Analysts say all the time that a team “looks” like a tourney team, and this Temple team looks every bit of the part. They have a star in Shey Peddy that is capable of leading the team any given game. She was the Atlantic 10’s player of the year and defensive player of the year, as she led the conference in scoring (17.2 ppg) and finished second in steals (3.2 spg).
Her all around game has drawn admiration from the fellow high scoring senior Oliver. “Any night she could get 20-30 points or go for a double double in anything … steals, rebounds, assists. You need great guard play to win in this league, and Temple has that.”
Oliver is right on the mark, as BJ Williams is as valuable at the point guard position as anyone in the country. She led the A-10 in assists per game (4.9 apg) and still managed to rank fourth in the conference in assist to turnover ratio (1.6). It is not only the back court that gets it done for these Owls, as Kristen McCarthy and Brittany Lewis combine for nearly 21 points and 11 rebounds per game. The roster holds seven upperclassman; the last of the telltale traits for not only a team that belongs in the Big Dance, but a team that can do some damage.
“Their post players are underrated and all their players know their role. The posts disrupt on D, while the guards pressure the ball. They were projected as a tournament team when the A-10 tournament started, and their loss to a tough Dayton team shouldn’t keep them from the NCAA’s.” Oliver, the conferences second leading scorer, said when questioned about the Owls postseason outlook.
This Temple team passes every statistical test as well as the “eye test” and is a team that should not only hear their name called on Selection Monday, but should be feared by the team that draws them in the first round.
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