Sports Cipher

Temple released from Big East and now returns

In 2004, The Temple Owls were kicked out of the Big East for not meeting minimal requirements for the conference as well as lack of filling seats in the stands. For those two reasons and some others, Temple got the boot. Now they are back! According to report, “We didn’t deserve, truthfully, to be in the football competition in those years. But it’s hard to get kicked out,” Lewis Katz, chairman of Temple’s athletic committee, said at a news conference during the Big East men’s basketball tournament Wednesday.
Temple is bringing their football team back to Big East for the 2012-2013 season and the rest of their sports will follow suit in the 2013-2014 season joining fellow Philly powerhouse Villanova. “This is arguably the greatest day in the history of Temple Athletics,” athletic director Bill Bradshaw said in a statement. “We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Big East and its member schools.”

Temple pays $7 million in exit fees

Currently, the Owls play for Mid-Atlantic Conference in football and the remainder of their sports is under the Atlantic 10 Conference. In order to leave they to pay two conference exit fees. $6 million for MAC and $1 million for A10 are expensive for no reason. When is the last time MAC won a championship title in football for their exit fee to be $6 mil?
To regain their reputation, they have been itching to get back to major college football. They don’t want to go back to playing independent like they did before the MAC picked them up. In an interview with head coach Steve Addazio said, “Where we are right now, we’re not trying to fumble around and see if we can find our way into major college football. This is a plan that’s been going on for quite some time.”

The future of Temple Basketball

The Owls record in A10 is 24-6 and they are at the top of the bracket right now. After this basketball season, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are scheduled to migrate to unstoppable ACC. Big East is excited to bring in Temple in order to fill their competitive void while looking for other expansion opportunities for the 2013-2014 season.
As for A10, Temple has been a huge power in that conference and without the Owls it might fall under the radar. They play University of Massachusetts on Friday in hopes of going to the Dance.