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Temple Owls: American Athletic Conference Preview

By Kevin Schaeffer

Feb 9, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Temple Owls guard Daniel Dingle (4) and center Ernest Aflakpui (24) and guard Shizz Alston Jr. (3) and guard Alani Moore II (2) and forward Obi Enechionyia (0) walk onto the court after a timeout against the Southern Methodist Mustangs during the second half at Liacouras Center. Southern Methodist Mustangs won 66-50. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 9, 2017; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Temple Owls guard Daniel Dingle (4) and center Ernest Aflakpui (24) and guard Shizz Alston Jr. (3) and guard Alani Moore II (2) and forward Obi Enechionyia (0) walk onto the court after a timeout against the Southern Methodist Mustangs during the second half at Liacouras Center. Southern Methodist Mustangs won 66-50. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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A preview for the Temple Owls and the American Athletic Conference tournament.

It has been a forgetful year for the Temple Owls. What started as a season full of hope, with wins over locks for the NCAA Tournament West Virginia and Florida State in November, the season looked promising. But the wins over some of the top teams in the country appeared to be an anomaly, and the team looked like the one that had dropped games to New Hampshire and Massuchuttes.

During conference play, Temple showed they deserved to be a bottom four team in the American. The only team the Owls beat that finished ahead of them was Memphis, who they beat twice.

Temple finished with a mediocre 16-15 record overall and a 7-11 record in the American, which was good enough for the 8th seed in the conference tournament. Temple will face off against East Carolina Thursday afternoon as they look to do the improbable. Winning the American is the only way they’ll be playing in the postseason.

How Temple can Win it All

If Temple is to beat East Carolina, the next game up is against Southern Methodist. SMU is currently ranked 12th in the AP Poll, one spot below West Virginia. SMU has lost four games this season, and in three of them, the winning team shot at least 40 percent from beyond the arc. So shooting is paramount if the Owls look to pull off the upset.

Temple as a team for the season shot 35.7  percent from three, and the Owls have three starters who shoot better than 38 percent. Temple is more than capable of getting hot, just like they did last season when they knocked off the Mustangs. Look for senior Daniel Dingle or junior Obi Enechioyia to catch fire like Devin Coleman did when he went 7-7.

If Temple is lucky enough to knock off SMU, they’ll face the winner of Central Florida and Memphis in the semifinal. Memphis would be the ideal opponent for the Owls, as Temple seems to have the Tigers number this season. In the first matchup, Temple held guard Dedric Lawson well below his season average.

If Temple can make its way to the championship they’ll most likely face Cincinnati or Houston for the title. Temple lost all three matchups this season against the second and third best teams in the conference. Temple will need to play a near-perfect game, like they’ll need against SMU, in order to earn the AAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

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