Hoops marathon, local football and other tidbits

I'm sure most of you have heard this by now, but just in case you haven't, Temple and Drexel will be a part of ESPN's 24-hour college basketball marathon on Nov. 17.

It will be the Dragons' second straight appearance on what has become college basketball's unofficial Opening Day. They will travel to Niagara for an 8 a.m. tipoff, while Temple will visit Georgetown at 4 p.m.

Yes, that means Fran Dunphy and John Thompson III will meet for the first time since JT III left Princeton. I'm hoping to be in Washington for the game and I suspect I'll be writing quite a bit about that storyline.

You might recall that Niagara is coached by La Salle grad and former assistant coach Joe Mihailich. The Purple Eagles have four players on their roster from the Philadelphia area: Villanova transfer Bilal Benn (Cherokee and Cardinal Dougherty), sophomore Kashief Edwards (Imhotep Charter), freshman Scooter Gillette (Neuman-Goretti) and senior Tyrone Lewis (Harry S. Truman of Levittown).

Lewis is the big star. He led Niagara in scoring last season with 16.2 points per game.

Here's the full schedule. You have to love the 6 a.m. Monmouth-St. Peter's tipoff.

12:00 a.m.: Cal State-Fullerton at UCLA, ESPN
2:00 a.m.: San Diego State at St. Mary's, ESPN
4:00 a.m.: Northern Colorado at Hawaii, ESPN
6:00 a.m.: Monmouth at St. Peter's, ESPN
8:00 a.m.: Drexel at Niagara, ESPN
10:00 a.m.: Clemson at Liberty, ESPN
12:00 p.m.: Northeastern at Siena, ESPN
2:00 p.m.: Arkansas-Little Rock at Tulsa, ESPN
4:00 p.m.: Temple at Georgetown, ESPN
5:30 p.m.: Binghamton at Pittsburgh, ESPN (CBE Classic)
6:00 p.m.: UNC-Charlotte or Elon vs. Coastal Carolina or Duke, ESPN (Presesason NIT at Durham, N.C.)
7:00 p.m.: Tennessee Women vs. Texas Tech Women, ESPNU (at San Antonio)
7:30 p.m.: Arkansas vs. Louisville, ESPN2 (at St. Louis)
8:00 p.m.: Gonzaga at Michigan State, ESPN
8:00 p.m.: Northern Illinois at Illinois, ESPN360.com
9:00 p.m.: Duquesne at Iowa, ESPNU (CBE Classic)
9:30 p.m.: Connecticut Women vs. Texas Women, ESPN2 (at San Antonio)
10:00 p.m.: Memphis vs. Kansas, ESPN (at St. Louis)
11:30 p.m.: TCU or CS-Northridge vs. Texas State or Arizona State, ESPN (Preseason NIT at Tempe, Ariz.)

It's Wednesday, so it's time to take a look at what the local Division II and Division III football programs are up to.

West Chester
Last week: Home loss vs. California (Pa.), 30-23
This week: 9/19 at Millersville, 1:00 p.m.

Delaware Valley
Last week: Road win vs. Kean, 30-17
This week: 9/19 vs. Wesley, 1:00 p.m.

Rowan
Last week: Road win vs. Lycoming, 29-7
This week: 9/19 at SUNY-Cortland, 1:00 p.m.

Ursinus
Last week: Road loss vs. Lebanon Valley, 27-20
This week: 9/19 at Juniata, 1:00 p.m.

Widener
Last week: Road win vs. Curry (Mass.), 22-17
This week: 9/19 at Ithaca, 1:00 p.m.

Lincoln
Last week: Home win vs. Southern Virginia, 29-8
This week: 9/19 vs. Shaw, 1:00 p.m.

Cheyney
Last week: Road loss vs. Gannon, 30-9
This week: 9/19 at LIU-C.W. Post, 1:00 p.m.

KYW's Matt Leon has posted audio of Villanova coach Andy Talley, Penn coach Al Bagnoli and Delaware Valley coach Jim Clements from this afternoon's coaches luncheon.

We close this post on a somber note: NCAA president Myles Brand has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 67. Brand's time as the head of college sports' governing body was not without controversy, but in the end he will likely be remembered for the good he did in the position - especially creating the APR system.

Sports Illustrated's Alex Wolff has written a column with his memories of Brand's tenure. He refers in the piece to two previous stories about Brand, which you can read here and here.

ESPN.com's Pat Forde wrote a feature piece about Brand a few months ago that you can read here. There is also a lot of information at the NCAA's official website.