Temple Basketball: Owls atheltics right at home in the American Athletic Conference

Temple Basketball and Owls athletics will continue upward trajectory as members of the AAC; Connecticut’s retreat won’t influence Temple’s future.

In all the craziness that’s surrounded UConn’s impending move to the Big East, I’ve seen a lot of ridiculous things floating around the internet. I’ve seen the word “return” used in reference to Connecticut’s move to a conference that’s only existed as long as it’s been an AAC member, I’ve seen fans of American programs passionately support the conference adding schools like Southern Miss, UAB, Appalachian State. I’ve even seen people argue that this will be a positive move for UConn football. But the most absurd thing I’ve come across in these past few weeks is this article from David Jones, a Penn State-affiliated writer out of Harrisburg, that argues Temple Basketball should follow suit and rejoin the Atlantic 10.

Normally, this isn’t the kind of discussion I would provide with any sort of credibility by arguing. It’s a completely ridiculous position to take, and I’ve seen a few people laughed off of internet message boards for suggesting something similar. The fact that a team of journalism professionals wrote, edited and published something so profoundly ignorant is almost shocking. But this was published by an apparently legitimate news source, and that means some people are going to buy some of the arguments it’s making.

The article opens by arguing UConn made the move that it did as a “white flag” on pursuing big-time college football. I certainly agree. But from there, it starts to make some major miscalculations. It calls Connecticut playing “second-tier schools” from Ohio, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas a “bad idea”. Not that I expect a Penn State writer to be intimately familiar with college basketball, but a cursory Google search certainly could’ve informed David that UConn will be playing exactly half of its Big East games against small private, mostly Catholic schools in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. I wonder how he would’ve felt about that had he known.

But it’s time to move on from UConn. We can remind their fans that take to social media to bash the American that they’ve been a drain in both men’s basketball and football since their hoops title in 2014, and Temple fans can be especially cruel to post highlights of the fifty-point gridiron beat-down the Owls handed Connecticut in the last football game the Huskies played before they decided enough was enough. And David makes a good point; UConn blowing tens of millions of dollars a year for the vague hope of a Power Five invite probably wasn’t the best use of public money. They’ll go their way, and the rest of the conference will go theirs. If the American is wise enough to extend an offer to VCU and stand pat at eleven football members, the conference will be in a much better place in football and men’s basketball when UConn does pull its membership. That’s what’s called a win/win.

But David goes on to have the audacity to write that Temple needs to do the same thing, dis-invest in football and rejoin the Atlantic Ten. Honestly, I was speechless when I read that portion of the column. Was this a real news source, or a Penn State fan blog? Was this a professional writer, or another bitter Penn State alum looking to take shots at Temple?

Since most of you that this piece will reach are basketball fans, I don’t need to remind you about the disparities on the court between the A10 and the American. The metrics, performance, brand recognition, exposure and money in the American are all a major step, if not two, above the Atlantic Ten. Is the A10 a great conference? It sure is, but its basketball profile isn’t close to that of the American. The conferences’ overall efficiency ratings according to KenPom were leagues apart last year, and the gap has been widening.

UConn wasn’t the dam breaking on unsustainable football operation at the G5 level, contrary to what this writer wants people to believe. The financial losses Temple accrues on athletics are substantially smaller than the forty-million Connecticut was throwing down the drain mismanaging their sports, and will be almost negligible following the one-billion dollar deal the AAC just signed with ESPN. Temple football has helped raise the profile of the university, it won a conference championship, it regularly appears in bowl games. UConn football hasn’t finished above five-hundred since 2010. The parallels between the schools, at least athletically, are pretty much nonexistent. If David wants to find a school ready to follow the path UConn trailblazed, he doesn’t have to look any further than Penn State’s own conference; Rutgers loses a similar amount on athletics as Connecticut, and their faculty regularly votes in favor of cutting the football program (although the full share of Big Ten money finally coming their way will probably prevent that from happening).

The reason a Penn State writer would try to add currency to the idea that Temple should return to the A10 is obvious: even after Fran Dunphy fell asleep at the wheel and crashed Temple hoops into the ground, resulting in one of the worst half-decades in program history, Temple still out-competed Penn State on the hardwood. Since the Lions last made an NCAA Tournament appearance almost a decade ago (when this happened), Temple has made the tournament four times. And in 2018, one of Penn State’s best all-time seasons and one of Temple’s worst in this recent stretch, the two were seeded four and five respectively in the NIT.

None of that is to brag about Temple’s resumé since Juan Fernandez sent Penn State home in 2011; the era since then has been nothing short of an embarrassment to Temple’s proud basketball legacy. But it’s apparent that Temple’s valleys are as high as Penn State basketball can hope to aspire.

And yea, Penn State won that game between the two in State College in the 2018 NIT, and they went on to win that year’s edition of the tournament. I must’ve missed the parade.

With Aaron McKie taking over the reigns as Temple’s head coach, Penn State’s only advantage on the recruiting trail is their conference affiliation. Pat Chambers has had plenty of success convincing Philly talent to waste their college careers in front of an empty Bryce Jordan Center for a lifeless program that’s played meaningful March basketball twice this millennium, but he’s not competing with Fran Dunphy anymore; he’ll have to out-recruit a Philadelphia basketball legend with a thirteen-year NBA career on his resumé. A world where Temple cuts resources to its football program and brings basketball back to the Atlantic Ten is the only one in which Chambers could hope to land more talent than McKie. It’s the only reality in which Penn State has a prayer competing long-term with Temple basketball.

And of course Penn State would love its major football competition in the Delaware Valley axed. Temple doesn’t perpetually dwell in the college football cellar anymore, something Penn State learned last time the two schools played a series against each other. PSU can’t just walk into Philly to show off for area recruits and bolster their brand in the Delaware Valley without battling a Temple program more capable of competing with the Nittany Lions than they ever have been before. I’m certainly not suggesting Temple football will ever be in a position to regularly put together teams that would challenge Penn State’s area football supremacy, but James Franklin has a tougher task dealing with Temple and Philadelphia than Joe Paterno ever did. State would love to see that thorn plucked from their side with Owls football removed from the FBS picture.

As much as many of us have complained about the American, about the far-flung opponents and lack of sex appeal, Temple’s membership has coincided with a boom for the university. The football team has reached heights no one could’ve even dreamed of when it was kicked out of the Big East for under performance fifteen years ago, basketball managed to stay afloat and make a few tournaments despite years of mismanagement, and the profile of the school has grown exponentially just in the last five years. And none of this is to mention the multi-million dollar-a-year bump in revenue the American just helped Temple earn. Temple isn’t going to give all of that up for a four-hundred thousand dollar media deal in the Atlantic 10 just because the football program isn’t competing for national championships, or because the ACC isn’t yet knocking on its door. Maybe it took a school giving up to put the American in perspective for some Temple fans.

Bottom line, Temple athletics aren’t going anywhere. Get comfortable, and get excited for what’s next with Aaron McKie and Rod Carey. The sky really is the limit, and the American is going to help Temple get there.