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Sunday, November 1, 2009
Temple football gets a vote in AP, coaches polls

I'll be totally honest with you: I have no idea when this last happened. But it happened today for the first time I can remember, so here it is;

Temple got a vote in the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Top 25 football polls.

Yes, really.

The AP vote was cast by Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I'll try to get in touch with him this week to find out why he put the Owls on his ballot.

Villanova fans might be interested to know that Richmond also got a vote, although I-AA teams aren't supposed to be included in the ranking. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Ray Ratto ranked the Spiders No. 25 on his ballot.

You all might recall that Appalachian State got a few AP Top 25 votes after its famous win at Michigan a few years back.

As for the coaches' poll, we don't know who put the Owls on a ballot because those ballots aren't made public.

But we do know that a few MAC coaches vote in the poll: Toledo's Tim Beckman, Bowling Green's Dave Clawson, Eastern Michigan's Ron English, Ball State's Stan Parrish, and Temple's Al Golden himself.

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, whose Midshipmen lost to the Owls in Annapolis yesterday, also has a vote.

So I have two questions for you. First, does Temple deserve to be ranked? Second, should I-A and I-AA teams be ranked together?

Have at it. And if you see this tonight, join my live chat during Game 4 of the World Series.

 

Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald @ 8:01 PM  Permalink | File Under: Football | | Temple | 8 comments
8
Comments   
Posted 11:17 PM, 11/01/2009
streetjustice
I think temple deserves a consideration. They have not lost a conference game. There only losses were to Penn State which is lmost ranked in the top ten and was once considered a national champ contender. They loss to Villanova a I-AA school, but a good I-AA school. The argument against- lost to a very good I-aa school which was the first game of the season. For, winning all their conference games, won nonconference game against a decent Navy team. Only played against one ranked team and lost to them.
Posted 08:48 AM, 11/02/2009
dpcoz
why shouldn't they? Temple beat a good Navy team, they've won six in a row and are primed for a run to the MAC Championship game and a bowl game this year. I doubt they're top 25 material by the end of the year but why shouldn't they receive a handful of votes for their efforts? Thr program is finally growing, I tghink philly.com needs to recognize it and provide a little more coverage than your typical UPenn football game.
Posted 11:14 AM, 11/02/2009
Que19st
Yeah good point dpcoz! Temple football should get a lil more play. Especially locally. And it's a shame because there is so much talent in Philadelphia highschools its a shame! But no one ever consideres Temple!! I know i didn't when I played for Gratz. I came down here to NC for football.
Posted 11:15 AM, 11/02/2009
Que19st
Yeah good point dpcoz! Temple football should get a lil more play. Especially locally. And it's a shame because there is so much talent in Philadelphia highschools its a shame! But no one ever consideres Temple!! I know i didn't when I played for Gratz. I came down here to NC for football.
Posted 12:34 PM, 11/02/2009
willll
I'm happy for Temple, and their fans. It seems that the program has had bad luck,forever. The limited hope I have for the Phillies, is related to the home Temple football game on Thursday night. Wouldn't it be just like Temple football, to schedule a game on November 5, and have it end up being the night of Game 7 of a Phillies vs. Yankees World Series ?
Posted 02:46 PM, 11/02/2009
mdriban
Which coach voted for them?????
Comment removed.
Posted 04:17 PM, 11/03/2009
RTL
Entering November, Temple is undefeated in conference play and just beat a powerful Navy program in Annapolis. They deserve the ranking. Ranking IA and IAA together is an interesting question; figures the concept originated from Cali. Bottom line is that it's a nice gesture, but it has little tangible impact other than perhaps to motivate IAA programs to aspire to IA status.
About Jonathan Tannenwald
I fell in love with the Big 5 at first sight upon moving to Philadelphia in 2002. At various points in my journalistic career, I've covered all six of the region's Division I teams. During that time, I've eaten many soft pretzels from the Palestra's concession stands, which is how this blog got its name.

I also contribute to the Inquirer's women's basketball blog, Women's Hoops Guru.

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