(05-07-2020 04:05 AM)jedclampett Wrote:  Sounds like the predictions are that there will be a bunch of 8-4 teams, a few teams with maybe 5 to 7 wins, and perhaps a couple with less than 5 wins.

For that to happen, there would be a remarkable amount of parity.

If the top teams in conference only have 8 wins, then there won't be a single AAC team in the top 25.

Prior experience would suggest that there will actually be a couple of teams with at least 9-10+ wins, a couple with 8+ wins and 2-3 other bowl eligible teams.

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A couple of Temple FB fans on this message board have predicted that Temple might be able to win 8 games. I wish that I could agree. Six wins sounds more realistic to me.

Last season, six of Temple's eight wins came against teams with losing records (Bucknell, GT, ECU, USF, UConn & Tulane (5-6 against FBS teams). The Owls only had two quality wins last season, both of which were home games; the average margin of victory in those 2 games was only 2 points.

Despite winning 8 games, including 6 games vs. teams with losing records, and despite playing 7 home games last season, Temple only out-scored their opponents by an average of 0.39 ppg:

Temple's ppg: 26.31
Opponent's ppg: 25.92


Temple was outscored by an average of 18+ ppg vs. opponents with winning records:

Temple's ppg: 20.00
Opponent's ppg: 38.29


Temple's losses:

Buffalo 38, Temple 22
SMU 54, Temple 21
UCF 63, Temple 21
Cincy 15, Temple 13
North Carolina 55, Temple 13

Temple only managed to score more than 30 points in two games last year, one of which came vs. FCS (3-8) Bucknell, and the other one of which came vs. (2-10) UConn. Both of those were Temple home games.

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Unfortunately for Temple, the performance of their offensive unit last season was highly similar to the performances of their offensive coordinator's prior team (NIU) the previous two seasons. In none of the past three seasons has Uremovich finished the season with an offensive unit ranked above #90 in the nation.

I would have to agree. Unless Temple gets a new offensive coordinator or a dynamic QB, I don't see them being anymore than a "grind it out" type of team. Cincinnati has some of the same problems, but they have been recruiting at a really high level, so they have been able to out-talent some mediocre teams that Temple is more likely to struggle with.