Lunardi: Owls out of NCAA tourney
Temple would not participate in the NCAA tournament if the field was picked Friday, according to ESPN college basketball analyst Joe Lunardi.
Lunardi: Owls out of NCAA tourney
Keith Pompey, Inquirer Staff Writer
No surprise here.
Temple would not participate in the NCAA tournament if the field was picked Friday, according to ESPN college basketball analyst Joe Lunardi.
Lunardi, known as Joey Brackets, has the Owls listed as one of the first four teams out after Thursday’s 84-83 home setback to lowly Duquesne.
Prior to that loss, Lunardi had Temple as one of the two No. 12 seeds in the West region. At the time, he predicted the Owls would face the region’s other No. 12 seed St. Mary’s in a first-round game in Dayton.
La Salle is now the only City 6 team that Lunardi predicts will participate in the tourney.
The St. Joseph’s graduate, who does Hawks radio broadcasts, projects the Explorers will be the No. 11 seed in the Midwest region. La Salle would face No. 6 seed Minnesota in a second-round game in Austin, Texas.
Lunardi lists a total of four Atlantic Ten teams playing in the tourney.
Butler is projected as the Midwest region’s No. 5 seed. Virginia Commonwealth is the No. 8 seed in the South, while St. Louis is 11th in the West.
Click here to view Lunardi's update Bracketology blog post.
When will Phil Martelli and his Hawk talk be shown the Proverbial DOOR?— Kevinmac- Usually LaSalle plays down to the competition 3 or 4 times a season and loses games they shouldn't lose; Fran Dunphy teams almost never do that until this season. Duquesne was a huge loss for TU.— JBinPA
- Maybe the worst loss for a Temple team in the past 20 years.— JackJLewis
- Don't know why, but Dunph can't get this team to play against the weaker foes. It's like they play the Dukes, Bonnies, etc. and expect them to just cave when the Owls come onto the court. Only player worth his salt is Wyatt. Temple waited a year to have Scootie Randolph back and he's been nothing like the player he was before he got injured. Too many Owls standing around waiting for Wyatt to save them.— mike l
Pompey is a native Philadelphian and a University of Pittsburgh graduate. Follow him on Twitter @pompeysgridlock. Reach Keith at kpompey@phillynews.com.
