Schuylkill 16
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
For mid-major fans, the Butler-Bucknell matchup on Thursday in Lexington is one of the most appealing second-round games in the NCAA tournament.
Here, courtesy of ASAP Sports, is a transcript of Bucknell's day-before press conference at Rupp Arena.
THE MODERATOR: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Bucknell student-athlete news conference here at the NCAA second and third around in Lexington, Kentucky. We have three Bucknell student-athletes. We have Bryson Johnson, Joe Willman, and Mike Muscala from Bucknell. First question.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
The NIT schedule is out, and Drexel, La Salle and St. Joe's will all play first-round home games Wednesday night.
Combined with Penn's participation in the CBI, it means that there will be four games going on simultaneously across the city.
The NIT matchups are as follows:
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Now that college basketball has left us for another year, I figured it would be a good idea to give you all one more chance to comment on how the season played out.
So here one last edition of the Schuylkill 16. Do you agree with the rankings? Have your say in the comments.
1. Temple, 9 points (9 first-place votes)
- "Temple has to get some credit for finally winning a tournament game. Way to go and congratulations Fran." (Patrick Flannery)
- "Fran was a lane violation away from his first trip to the Sweet 16, but there is no doubt he has the Temple program headed in the right direction. Villanova's reign as the cream of the Philly hoops' crop is no more." (Fred D.)
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
As we get set to tip off the NCAA Tournament tonight, here's your take on how the local teams stack up against each other.
One last reminder to make your selections in Philly.com's NCAA Tournament Pick'Em contest. You can join the Soft Pretzel Logic readers group by clicking here.
1. Temple, 20 points
- "Someone should have told the selection committee to play the Temple/ Penn State game at the Reading outlets, not all the way in Arizona."
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
NEW YORK - Sorry this is a day late. I was going to post it yesterday, but then the refereeing mess happened in the Rutgers-St. John's game so I decided to write about that.
I should note that ballots were cast before that game, so they don't reflect Rutgers' loss. But if you read all the way to the end of the post, you'll find something that I think makes up for it.
A reminder that you can get real-time updates on all the action here at Madison Square Garden in my live blog post here.
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
There are some very upset Villanova fans out there, in case you haven't heard...
1. Temple, 25 points (11 first-place votes)
- "They deserve it and got shafted in the national rankings. A clear dis of Philadelphia basketball, not to be taken lying down." (Patrick Flannery)
2. Villanova, 70 points (2 first-place votes)
- "I take no pride at all in saying 'I told you so' to all the 'Nova fans who gave me grief the months ago when I saw the lack of heart in the players and the fan base of this team. It has now been chronicled by every newspaper and blog in the country." Nick Catrambone)
- "Bold prediction: This week I won't be the only voter to put Villanova dead last." (Brian Ewart)
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
If Temple had everyone healthy, I would honestly give the Owls a shot to win at Duke tonight. I think their defense is that good.
But with Micheal Eric out and Scootie Randall also likely to not play, I can't see Fran Dunphy's squad having enough depth to pull off the upset at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
So Temple fans will have to console themselves with having their team atop the Schuylkill 16 for a second straight week. That means something, right?
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
I had a feeling this might happen, but I'm still surprised that it happened this way.
Because one voter ranked Villanova 16th on his ballot, the Wildcats fell out of the top spot in this week's ranking. Temple, which got only two first-place votes, is the new No. 1.
Here's how it all played out:
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
First of all, a disclaimer: I wrote the bulk of this post during last night's games. I have updated the records and the rankings in the two tables to reflect those results.
The team and individual performance statistics, however, remain just based on results through Tuesday.
Also, a reminder that the Schyulkill 16 teamsheet table is arranged in the order of the most recent Schuylkill 16 poll.
|
Team
|
Record
|
Conf.
|
Big 5
| |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Drexel |
17-10
|
9-7
|
2-0
|
100 (73)
|
85 (52)
|
82 (65)
|
107 (87)
|
126 (114)
|
La Salle |
12-14
|
4-7
|
2-1
|
181 (169)
|
165 (161)
|
167 (158)
|
212 (223)
|
136 (131)
|
Penn |
9-12
|
3-4
|
1-3
|
183 (156)
|
190 (167)
|
188 (171)
|
231 (216)
|
152 (157)
|
St. Joe's |
7-17
|
2-8
|
0-3
|
201 (202)
|
201 (204)
|
202 (203)
|
213 (226)
|
63 (41)
|
Temple |
19-5
|
9-2
|
1-1
|
39 (36)
|
30 (32)
|
30 (31)
|
19 (21)
|
79 (69)
|
| Villanova | 20-6
|
8-5
|
4-0
|
13 (10)
|
14 (13)
|
16 (11)
|
25 (15)
|
22 (25)
|
Team |
Top 50 wins
|
201+ losses
|
Avg. win
|
Avg. loss
|
4
|
0
|
126
|
42
|
|
2
|
0
|
168
|
44
|
|
2
|
1
|
180
|
93
|
|
3
|
1
|
121
|
59
|
|
1
|
0
|
179
|
90
|
|
1
|
0
|
190
|
44
|
|
0
|
1
|
229
|
115
|
|
0
|
3
|
220
|
119
|
|
0
|
2
|
219
|
118
|
|
0
|
1
|
200
|
93
|
|
1
|
3
|
209
|
102
|
|
0
|
4
|
248
|
166
|
|
0
|
3
|
268
|
141
|
|
0
|
1
|
194
|
105
|
|
0
|
6
|
220
|
171
|
|
0
|
5
|
276
|
153
|
Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com
Late Wednesday night update: I guess I should have waited another day for this, eh? Anyone want to make the case that Villanova shouldn't be No. 1 after losing at Rutgers? I have a hunch someone does.
This week's poll is dedicated to Phil Martelli, because I know how much he loves you all and wants you to be happy.
1. Villanova, 15 points (14 first-place votes)
Reach Jonathan at jtannenwald@phillynews.com or 215-854-2330.
