Temple vs. Villanova, common opponents

The second blog in my angry rant about Villanova getting a higher seed than Temple. This one explores the teams’ common opponents. Villanova gets some credit, but the anger is still there.

Georgetown vs. Temple, 46-45 win vs. Villanova, split
St. John’s vs. Temple, 55-48 win vs. Villanova, 81-71 loss
Seton Hall vs. Temple, 71-65 loss vs. Villanova, 81-71 loss
St. Joe’s vs. Temple, lost twice vs. Villanova, 97-89 loss
Penn vs. Temple, 60-45 loss vs. Villanova, 103-65 loss
LaSalle vs. Temple, lost twice vs. Villanova, 81-63 loss
Dayton vs. Temple, 49-41 loss vs. Villanova, 71-65 loss
Fordham vs. Temple, 62-45 loss vs. Villanova, 96-58 loss
Delaware vs. Temple, 76-56 loss vs. Villanova, 97-63 loss

What jumps out to me is why did Villanova play Fordham and Dayton in non-conference games? Two Atlantic 10 teams going up against one of the best teams in the Big East? Shouldn’t the Wildcats be building their resume against superior competition?

Villanova falls into the category of teams that believes its non-conference schedule is so hard, it can relax a little when it comes to non-conference scheduling, and the NCAA tournament committee validated this thinking by seeding them so high. Actually, it’s good to see the Wildcats play teams from a respectable mid-major rather than scheduling Big Sky and MAAC opponents. Clearly, Georgetown, St. John’s and Seton Hall had the same mindset when they scheduled Temple.

As for the results, Temple gave dangerous Georgetown a close game, while Villanova both beat and lost to the Hoyas in conference play. Temple beat no one Villanova couldn’t beat, while Villanova beat both Georgetown and St. John’s.

On paper, Villanova seems to have a slight edge. On the court, Temple beat them.