February 16, 2016
Might Philadelphia just get three teams into the NCAA Tournament? The last time that scenario happened was back in 2013, when Villanova, Temple, and La Salle (who rode the Southwest Philly Floater to the Sweet 16) all made the Big Dance. This year, it’s starting to feel like three teams have a legit chance although only one of them is a lock.
Temple scored a gigantic win over UConn last Thursday, and it has another major opportunity against top-ranked Villanova on Wednesday at the Liacouras Center. Where do ‘Nova, Temple, and Saint Joseph’s stand as of right now? We even added a fourth bracketologist to the list:
• ESPN, Joe Lunardi
• CBS Sports, Jerry Palm
• USA Today, Shelby Mast
• FOX Sports, Stewart Mandel
Consensus: Top seed, playing in Philly
A 10-point home victory against St. John’s doesn’t exactly scream “Number One Team,” but you don’t get knocked out of the top spot for winning. After missing a couple of weeks with a concussion, Daniel Ochefu went for a career-high 25 points against the Johnnies. From the Inquirer’s Joe Juliano, here is what Jay Wright said about his senior center:
"I've been surprised, not by his play but by his stamina. Going into the DePaul game, he literally didn't do anything for however long it was. He was literally laying in bed, practiced one day. The first day he was at practice, he looked fine. He looked like he never missed. That's pretty impressive."
Until the Wildcats lose again, the story will be the same: First two rounds in Brooklyn, next two rounds at the Wells Fargo Center. In my expert opinion, they should try not to mess it up.
Consensus: None, they’re all over the place
Huge road win in Foggy Bottom over George Washington followed by a TCB blowout of La Salle on Hawk Hill. The 21-4 Hawks are all the way up to 36th in the KenPom ratings, and the biggest game of their season is against 21-3 Dayton on City Line Avenue tomorrow night.
Believe it or not, not everyone has the Hawks in the tourney. This group doesn’t include CBS’ Palm, who projects SJU as one of the last four teams in the field:
Saint Joseph's has a gaudy record, but not very much behind it. The Hawks have just three top 100 wins (Princeton, GW and Temple) and are a perfect 9-0 on the road, but they have three home losses, including in the league to VCU and St. Bonaventure.
Dayton represents the type of résumé win that would really boost the tourney chances of Phil Martelli’s team. Not everyone feels this way, as USA Today’s Mast currently has the Hawks easily in as a nine seed. While we’re on the subject of SJU, the offensive jump that Isaiah Miles has made as a senior has been nothing short of incredible:
Sometime this week Isaiah Miles will surpass his entire scoring total from his first three years as a Hawk in one season. What a senior yr!
— Matt Martucci (@Tooch975) February 14, 2016
Consensus: Conference champ, slotted in 10-13 range
The Owls are 10-3, a full game ahead in the loss column of every American team that isn’t SMU (Larry Brown’s bunch can’t play in the postseason). While the Owls will have a good shot to lock up an automatic berth next month, tomorrow’s game against Villanova is a big one if Temple has any chance to creep back into the at-large discussion.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
