Could Temple be positioning itself for the postseason?

[Mr. Neutral]

Once left for dead, the Owls have won 5 of their last 6, with the only loss being by 1 point to #46 SJU. They are now #67 in the RPI with the #19 SOS.

With UMass (losing 3 of their last 4) and Dayton (losing 4 of their last 5) faltering, the A-10 postseason candidate list might be changing. At the very least, we'll have a lot of teams capable of winning the A-10 tourney. Don't be surprised if we don't win it, no matter what we do in the regular season.

[mhettel]

Very good call, Gary.

I ran my RPI model last week, and drew the same conclusion. I have been writing a detailed RPi post, but have been pressed for time to finish. One of my main points was the insight i think i gained from taking a good look at Temple.

Their RPI is HEAVILY weighted towards their SOS. So consider that at 10-9 they were still in the RPi top 60. Go find another .500 team that fits that description.

If they get their winning percentage improved (7-3 finish approx) their RPI will shape up considerably.

Temple is the A-10 sleeper in my mind. I's say they are NCAA tourney team #4 right now, behind XU, URI and SJU.

By the way, this isn't JUST a mathmatical assessment of Temple (I have doen those in the past), but rather a real consideration of their roster, style and skill level after watching them dismantle XU>

[CarlosTheJackal]

MH, I for one have been missing your RPI analysis.

It hasn't been quite as needed this year, at least for X. As you have always said, winning and the OOC schedule will take care of a lot of problems with being a bubble team. But I still like to read your stat posts and interpretations. Hoping some time frees up for you!