City Six: Who's No. 2? Go figure
1. Who's No. 2? Other than Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, most local college basketball followers would likely agree that Temple is the top team in the city.
Five Topics
1. Who's No. 2?
Other than Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, most local college basketball followers would likely agree that Temple is the top team in the city.
So, who is behind the Owls?
Head-to-head competition usually is the easy way to decide, so just look at these facts:
Temple beat Villanova, La Salle, Penn and St. Joseph's. So case closed.
La Salle lost close games to Temple and Villanova and beat Penn.
Penn lost to Temple, La Salle and Villanova but beat St. Joseph's.
Villanova beat Penn and La Salle but lost to Temple and St. Joseph's.
St. Joseph's beat Villanova and Drexel but lost to Penn and Temple.
Drexel played only St. Joseph's and lost to the Hawks before the Dragons turned the corner.
Do we only take into consideration recent games? Shouldn't the whole resumé be considered?
If that's the case, picking No. 2 is a lot more difficult than selecting No. 1.
2. Drexel's bold statement
Flint hasn't backed off comments he made in Saturday's Inquirer, when he said his team was No. 1 in the city.
When asked if he has received much reaction to his statement, Flint laughed and answered the question with another one.
"Have I," he said. "Why wouldn't I say that if I had a good team?"
Let's just say it's been a topic that has been brought up to Flint frequently since Saturday.
"Of course I'm getting feedback, and people are going crazy, saying how could I say that?" Flint said. "We have a pretty good team, and it is what it is."
Flint said the Colonial Athletic Association, which sent three teams to the NCAA tournament last year - including Final Four participant Virginia Commonwealth - is an extremely strong league.
To show how difficult the CAA is, Drexel has won nine consecutive games but isn't in first place in the CAA. The Dragons are 9-2 in the league, one game behind George Mason.
With the higher profile of the CAA, it appears as if the regular season champion could make a claim to earn an NCAA bid.
"Sure, why not?" Flint said about that idea.
3. Unlikely scenario
Few people would have forecast that when Villanova visits Pitt on Sunday both teams would be 3-7 in the Big East. Villanova was supposed to be rebuilding but not to this extent. And Pitt was a Top 10 team.
One statistic that may account for the trouble is turnover margin. Before Monday's win over West Virginia, Pitt was 15th in the 16-team Big East in turnover margin, just ahead of Villanova.
The Wildcats have a minus-2.82 margin, averaging 14.4 turnovers while causing 11.5. Pitt has a minus-2.44 margin.
Unlike Villanova, Pitt is playing well now. The Panthers are 3-1 since the return of point guard Tray Woodall, who missed 11 of the previous 12 games due to an abdominal injury.
4. Will Penn contend?
That isn't known, but the Quakers are playing their best basketball of the season, having won four in a row following Monday's 82-67 win over Princeton.
Penn is 3-0 in the Ivy League, and more will be known about their contending status following this weekend's games at Yale and Brown.
Still, no matter how hot the Quakers are, Harvard (4-0 Ivy) remains the favorite.
5. Forget last season
La Salle coach John Giannini is a nice person, but one thing that gets him riled up is comparing this season with last season. The Explorers were 15-18 a year ago and have already surpassed that win total with a 16-6 start. At 5-2, the Explorers are tied for first in the Atlantic Ten Conference.
So saying how much the Explorers are improved over last year isn't a good way to make small talk with Giannini.
"I hate to talk of last year because it was one of the bigger disappointments in my coaching career," Giannini said. "We were very talented, our chemistry was awful, and we just grossly underachieved. And I have often said our success this year doesn't surprise me because I know we recruit good players. And I know we teach them the right things, and last year was more surprising to me. And that is kind of a sore point."
City Six Rankings
Inquirer Staff
Staff voters are Joe Juliano, Keith Pompey, Mike Jensen, Marc Narducci, John Quinn, Gary Miles, and Gary Potosky.
1. Temple
2. La Salle
3. Drexel
4. Villanova
5. St. Joseph's
6. Penn
Fan Voting
Fans' votes are counted from submissions on The Inquirer's SportsInq Facebook page and votes on www.philly.com/city6 since last Tuesday.
1. Temple
2. Drexel
3. La Salle
4. St. Joseph's
5. Villanova
6. Penn
(609 votes cast)
League Update
Big East
The Wildcats could get a boost when they visit struggling Pittsbugh on Sunday and host up-and-down Providence on Tuesday night. Villanova will need to go on a run at some point to stay out of the Big East's basement group. Syracuse continues to look like a runaway No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, with a number of teams battling for the rest of the top spots.
Atlantic Ten
Temple could pick up two wins, against Fordham on Wednesday night and troubled Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon. But the Owls will likely be tested against George Washington next Wednesday. La Salle, which has already surpassed its win total from last season, could get past Charlotte on Wednesday but meets pesky St. Joseph's at the Palestra on Saturday. The Hawks are just 3-4 in league play, but they have wins over Villanova and Dayton this season. After La Salle on Saturday, St. Joseph's will have a tough job handling St. Louis on Hawk Hill next Wednesday.
Colonial Athletic Association
Drexel, the hottest team in Philadelphia, could win all three road games this week, against Northeastern on Wednesday, Towson on Saturday and James Madison next Wednesday. The Dragons handed George Mason its only CAA loss this season, and defeated VCU. Drexel visits Old Dominion, which right now looks like the other top contender, in the regular-season finale.
Ivy League
Penn has a big game against a nice Yale team on Friday but will be the favorite to beat Brown on Saturday. The Quakers are headed toward a showdown game next Friday at the Palestra against Harvard, which is considered a heavy favorite to win the Ivy League and get an NCAA berth.
This Week's Games
Wednesday
Fordham at Temple, 7
Charlotte at La Salle, 7
Drexel at Northeastern, 7
St. Joseph's at Richmond, 7
Friday
Penn at Yale, 7
Saturday
Temple at Rhode Island, 2
La Salle at St. Joseph's, 2
Penn at Brown, 6
Drexel at Towson, 7
Sunday
Villanova at Pittsburgh, 2
Tuesday
Providence at Villanova, 8