Following weeks of talk about RPIs, BPIs and "Last Four In," the Temple Owls are in the NCAA tournament, which is a huge relief, especially after last year's snub. Fran Dunphy's Owls failed to register an RPI-enhancing nonconference win, but their American Athletic Conference regular-season title punched their ticket. Now that they are in, can the Owls change Dunphy's woeful NCAA tourney luck (3-15 all time)?
ESPN Insider has your answers, as Joe Lunardi has enlisted a team of Bracketologists to compile advanced metrics, key scouting intel and best- and worst-case tournament scenarios for all 68 teams to help you make smart picks in your bracket.
TOURNEY PROFILE
Best wins: vs. SMU, UConn (twice), Cincinnati (twice)
Worst losses: at East Carolina, vs. Saint Joseph's
Regular-season conference finish: First in the American Athletic Conference
Polls and metrics: The Owls ended the regular season with a 73 BPI.
All-time tourney record: 33-31, two Final Fours
Coach's tourney record: Fran Dunphy has a 3-15 record.
Bracketology chart | BPI information
PERSONNEL
(Note: Player statistics are through games March 6.)
STARTING LINEUP
F Jaylen Bond (9.7 PPG, 8.3 RPG)
F Obi Enechionyia (11.4 PPG, 3.8 RPG)
F Daniel Dingle (4.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG)
G Quenton DeCosey (15.7 PPG, 5.9 RPG)
G Josh Brown (8.0 PPG, 4.8 APG)
Key bench players
G Devin Coleman (9.2 PPG, 1.1 APG)
G Levan Shawn Alston Jr. (2.3 PPG, 1.0 RPG)
F Mark Williams (3.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG)
Biggest strength: First-rate guard play is a necessity in the NCAAs, and Temple has that. DeCosey, Brown and Coleman are experienced, proven guards. Brown is a steady, pass-first point guard, Coleman has an anywhere-in-the-area-code jumper, and DeCosey is deadly off the bounce and has a pump fake that seemingly gets every defender to bite.
Biggest weakness: Temple struggles to shoot straight at times (.405 FG) and therefore can fall victim to long scoring droughts. Making matters worse is that one of Temple's young shooting stars, freshman Trey Lowe (career-high 21 points vs. then-No.1 Villanova on Feb. 17), will likely miss the NCAA tournament due to injuries suffered in a recent car accident.
Best player: DeCosey. In the AAC, a league with more quality wings than a New York City sports bar, DeCosey takes a backseat to no one. A stat sheet-stuffer, DeCosey seems like he has been on North Broad Street longer than Barack Obama has been in the White House.
X factor: Sophomore power forward Obi Enechionyia is blossoming into a matchup nightmare for Owls foes because of his ability to stretch defenses with his net-snapping jump shot.
SCOUTING REPORT
Offensive approach: Temple plays at a deliberate pace, with the ball usually winding up in the hands of Brown or DeCosey late in the shot clock. Crafty low-post operator Bond is as tough as a $2 steak, while Enechionyia and sixth man Coleman can prove deadly behind the 3-point arc.
Defensive approach: Dunphy's defense of choice is sticky man-to-man. He prefers to switch on all screens, and having four undersized but agile bigs in Bond, Enechionyia, Dingle and Williams allows him to do that.
How they beat you: The Owls' stingy defense and low turnover rate keep them in nearly every game. Once in the hunt, Temple's battle-tested guards (DeCosey, Brown and Coleman) along with sophomore star-in-the-making Enechionyia are asked to make enough shots to tip the scales in the Owls' favor.
How you beat them: Playing an active zone defense, one that simultaneously closes out on 3-point shooters and limits the driving lanes for Brown and DeCosey, can bring the Owls' offense to a grinding halt.
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY
(Note: All statistics in this section are courtesy of kenpom.com and are accurate through games March 6.)
NATIONAL RANKS
Offensive efficiency: 161st (104.7)
Defensive efficiency: 47th (96.7)
3-point percentage: 192nd (34.2)
3-point percentage D: 17th (30.8)
Free throw rate: 347th (26.9)
Free throw rate D: 35th (28.9)
TO percentage: 2nd (13.7)
TO percentage D: 280th (16.4)
Good stat: 13.7% turnover percentage
Whether the hoops program's CEO has been John Chaney or Fran Dunphy, Temple has been among the nation's best in limiting turnovers. Only one school (Central Michigan) was better than Dunphy's bunch in turnover percentage this year. The Owls' 3-point defensive efficiency numbers are good as well: Opponents shot just .308 from 3-point land.
Bad stat: 26.9% free throw rate
Playing at a turtle's pace and settling for lots of perimeter jumpers, Temple treks to the foul line at one of the lowest rates imaginable. Temple ranks ahead of only four Division I schools (UC Santa Barbara, Iowa State, Liberty and Boston College) out of 351 squads nationwide in this category.
HOW FAR WILL THEY GO?
Best-case scenario: Round of 32 loss
Temple takes care of the ball and doggedly defends the 3-ball, but this oft wayward shooting squad will likely struggle to string back-to-back Big Dance triumphs.
Worst-case scenario: One-and-done
Coach Dunphy is one of college hoops' good guys. He has routinely taken two Philadelphia Big 5 schools (first Penn, now Temple) to the NCAA tourney. Once there, however, this 500-plus-game winner has struggled mightily, with a 3-15 mark. The result? Lots of "One and Dun-phy" headlines and Twitter posts, a trend the 2016 Owls hope to stop.