Yesterday, Temple's non-conference schedule was released and the two teams that really stood out were obviously Duke and Texas, who are both top tier basketball schools.
Temple is starting to make their plea that they are a legit team and capable of doing big things in the NCAA. Last year when they faced Duke, the Owls held the Blue Devils off quite well in the first half, but eventually lost the game in the second and after a big win over Georgetown earlier in the season, Fran Dunphy and his squad started to gain some confidence.
The Owls will be without star forward LaVoy Allen, who was drafted by the Sixers (why?). Guard Ramone Moore stepped up big time last season and seemed to steal some spotlight time from Allen, so have no fear Temple fans.
Also, the Owls were able to secure Dalton Pepper through transfer from West Virginia. Pepper is a big man at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds and also a great shooter.
That confidence is carrying over to this season with Texas being scheduled as an opponent. Here is the 2011-2012 schedule in full (courtesy of Philly.com):
Nov. 14 at Penn
Nov. 17 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, San Juan
Nov. 18 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, San Juan
Nov. 20 Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic, San Juan
Nov. 27 at Bowling Green
Dec. 3 Central Michigan
Dec. 7 at Toledo
Dec. 10 Villanova
Dec. 17 at Texas
Dec. 19 at Rice
Dec. 28 Buffalo
Dec. 30 at Delaware
Jan. 4 Duke (at the Wells Fargo Center)
Jan. 21 Maryland (at the Palestra)