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| Waltter Washington was the last Big East offensive player of year from Temple. If the Owls are in the Big East next year, Bernard Pierce could be. |
Fortunately, it doesn't work that way.
Or at least it is not supposed to work that way.
Over a three-day period, I received 14 emails from fans asking me what I thought about Temple going to the Big East and none (zero) about what I'm thinking about Saturday's Homecoming Day with Buffalo.
That's a three-day record for Temple Football Forever emails.
My response to each one is that I'm not counting the chickens before they are hatched.
I know Villanova is doing its darndest to keep the Owls out. Since Pitt and Syracuse left largely BECAUSE Villanova was being considered as a football member, I can't see that the Big East would be dumb enough to listen to anything that comes out of Radnor
Yeah, it is an exciting prospect, no doubt.
I'm more focused on the MAC.
Long before Temple was ever in the MAC, I was a MAC football fan. Long after Temple football leaves the MAC, I will remain a MAC football fan. I love the teams and the schools and the fans.
Heck, in the middle of the newsroom while watching MAC football about 10 years ago on a Thursday night on ESPN, I exclaimed:
"MAC football, I love it," I said.
"I hear you, bro," one of my fellow sportswriters said.
MAC football on Thursday nights on ESPN was a staple to me.
You couldn't put on anything better than that, watching Big Ben play with Miami or some of those Northern Illinois teams (one that beat Alabama).
What I'm not a fan of is the way the conference is run.
I can't respect a conference that "rewards" its three best teams trips to Detroit, Boise and Mobile.
I can't respect a conference that is so impotent that it can't lobby behind the scenes to get an 8-4 team into some kind of at-large bowl.
The Big East, for all its perceived faults, has terrific bowl tie-ins and enough clout to get any 8-4 team into most bowls.
Since it hasn't "officially" happened (heck, it might have happened in the last five minutes for all I know), I'm not going to get excited about it. According to reports in two out-of-town newspapers, Villanova has been bad-mouthing Temple for three days of Big East conference calls, demanding that the Owls not get in for all sports. I know Villanova is doing its darndest to keep the Owls out. Since Pitt and Syracuse left largely BECAUSE Villanova was being considered as a football member, I can't see that the Big East would be dumb enough to listen to anything that comes out of Radnor.
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| Villanova's contribution to the conference call. |
My guess is that Temple is already in because the Owls have upgraded their football program significantly and would bring both the highest profile basketball program and largest available market into the mix with documented TV ratings success in their portfolio.
Wake me up when the ink is dry, though.
What I'm going to do is get excited about the Homecoming Day game with Buffalo this Saturday, hopeful for a big crowd (that could not hurt the Big East prospects if the ink isn't dry by then) and focus on Temple beating Buffalo and winning the MAC.
We all know what happened the last time this team got full of themselves and unfocused. They got their heads handed to them by Toledo.
I don't want that happening again.
I have a feeling that's the message Steve Addazio is trying to drive home at The Edberg-Olson Football Complex.
Whether the team hears it or not, we should know by 4 p.m. on Saturday.
We'll know about the Big East soon enough.
I'm just glad I never ripped that Big East logo off the Temple football game jersey I'll be wearing on Saturday.
