Temple's Dunphy, Cornell's Donahue, together again

FRAN DUNPHY FELT it was going to be Cornell. He didn't want it to be Cornell. He wanted to play any of the other 63 teams in the NCAA Tournament. But Temple got Cornell on Friday in Jacksonville at 12:30 p.m.

"I think this was a planned matchup," Dunphy said.

Perhaps the tournament committee members knew that Cornell coach Steve Donahue was a longtime assistant for Dunphy at Penn, knew that they remain as tight as any two coaches can be, so tight that they were texting back and forth yesterday before Temple's Atlantic 10 championship win over Richmond. Perhaps they thought this would be a matchup with a story line. Or perhaps this is just the way it fell.

"If you had said to me who do you not want to play? Cornell," Dunphy said. "We're good friends and there is a no-win situation in that."

Well, some team is going to win on Friday. But the winning coach won't be as happy as he normally would be.

Dunphy and Donahue both knew approximately the seeds their teams would be, knew that this matchup was possible. The committee did the Owls, seeded No. 5 in the East, no real favors. Temple, the Atlantic 10 regular-season and tournament champions, with an RPI of 8 and 12 true road wins, really seemed more like a 3 seed.

The Temple fans gathered in the Fox-Gittis Room of the Liacouras Center as the selections were revealed did not seem too upset about a trip to Florida, or Cornell. But when it was revealed Villanova was a No. 2 seed, playing in Providence on Thursday against Robert Morris, they booed loudly.

After all, the Owls had beaten Villanova, had swept the Big 5 and won 29 games. The committee, however, has issues beyond the obvious. It has certain seeding principles that often mean teams have to move up or down a seed line. Still, the difference between 2 and 5 did seem like a large gap.

"[Villanova] deserves it," said Dunphy, ever gracious. "They're a great team and they'll do a lot of damage in the NCAA Tournament."

The coach is more concerned with the matchup than the seeding. Temple did not get an easy one. Ivy League champion Cornell is 27-4, and played well in losses to top seeds Kansas and Syracuse.

That there is this personal relationship is what makes it more difficult.

"There's nothing I can do," Dunphy said. "I have no control over it so there's no need to worry about it. We have a game in front of us against a really good basketball team. The only interesting thing is that it's the first time that I've ever been in position to wear a white uniform on the first day."

The Temple coach always looks at the big picture.

"This is a great day for student-athletes that play college basketball," Dunphy said. "If you end your season sitting down on Selection Sunday waiting for your name to be called, there is no better feeling than that."

The Cornell gym was filled for the announcements. The place went wild when Cornell's name appeared on the screen. Donahue did not go wild.

"I was totally shocked," Donahue said. "Everybody is jumping up and down. I couldn't even get off my seat. I was, 'Oh bleep.' "

Temple's athletic director, Bill Bradshaw, was not all that pleased with the seed.

"Most basketball experts had us at a 3 or a 4," he said. "Going into this, my feeling was that if it was a 4, that would seem about right. A 3, I'd be pleasantly surprised. Anything lower than a 4, disappointing."

Bradshaw pointed to the RPI, that the Owls won their last 10 games, went through the A-10 Tournament as the No. 1 seed without ever trailing for a single second.

The point-spread mavens in Las Vegas clearly did not look at this as a typical 5-12 matchup. Temple is favored by just four points.

Owls star guard Juan Fernandez did not seem all that concerned with seeds. "I was waiting to see who we would play against," he said. "I really didn't care that much about the seed."

Dunphy thinks he knows what went down.

"They look for angles like this to have first-round matchups," Dunphy said.

Maybe, they did. Maybe, that is just how it fell on the S Curve. Maybe, they had to move Temple a line for some other reason. Whatever, Temple will play Cornell, the good friends will coach against each other and there will be a winner and a loser. The last part never changes.