Cymerman Chronicles: Who Rules the City?

When people think of Philadelphia they think about the Liberty Bell, cheesesteaks, and the City of Brotherly Love. If you ask a college student when they hear the word Philadelphia they will look at you and break out a fight song. This city loves college basketball and no two teams are getting more attention than the Villanova Wildcats and Temple Owls. Villanova is currently ranked 3rd in the nation with Temple sitting at 15th. With these two teams getting national attention it got me thinking. Who rules Philly? Let's break down both teams as we are coming down the home stretch before March Madness.

Villanova (18-1) has been nothing but spectacular all season. Led by senior guard Scottie Reynolds the Wildcats have cruised their way their schedule, but it does not get easier for Jay Wright and he squad. 6 of their final 11 games are against top 25 teams. This will be a crucial point in the season as Nova is embarking on a historical season. Scottie Reynolds is about to have 2,000 career points. He will probably go late in first round of the draft. Let's look into how the Wildcats got to 18-1: Villanova started the season with two very easy games against Farleigh Dickinson and Penn. They would go on and win 9 straight before traveling to city foe, Temple Owls. That game proved to be just what Temple needed to keep their season rolling along. Juan Fernandez would single handily beat the Cats, scoring a career high 33 points. After the 75-65 loss to the Owls, Jay Wright went back to the drawing board and his team came back and they have responded well winning another 9 straight, including defeating Marquette twice in a week and both games came down to the final seconds. It should be an exciting final month of the season if you are a Wildcats fan.

Temple (17-3) was picked to finish 5th in the A-10, but have quickly have become the Kings in the A-10 (5-0). The Owls also have one of the better RPI's in the nation, which will help them when it comes to the tournament and what seed they would get. After having Dionte Christmas graduate, it looked like Temple would need to find another leader. Well, they found not just one but they found just about 15. Temple has been so successful this season because they have gotten help from every player on the team. The Owls have three players in double figures, with senior Ryan Brooks leading the way with 16 ppg. Junior Lavoy Allen is averaged almost a double double for the season. Temple has also played solid defense all season letting opponents score just about 56 ppg. Two of their three losses have come against top 25 teams, Kansas and Georgetown. Fran Dunphy has his team going in the right direction and looks to run with the A-10 as they begin league play this week. With an early exist last year against Arizona State in the tournament, look for the Owls to do a little better.
So who's the best? It's really a toss up. Right now I will have to say Villanova with the record and the kinda of games they have put together. Even though their only loss is to Temple. Jay Wright will what looks like give his Wildcats a 1 seed in the tournament, that is if they can get past the tough part of their schedule, which is the final month. Temple is not far behind Villanova though. If Temple keeps pulling off wins like they have this season look for them to maybe get as low as a 6 seed and that is if they win the A-10 tournament. Being a Temple alum I am excited to see how the rest of the season turns out and what will happen in the coming weeks. Do you agree with me? Feel free to express your opinion... Let's GO OWLS!!!