Temple Leads the Bowl Eligible Cast Off Power Rankings

By Joe Scarpone | Temple Columnist
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I really didn’t know how to feel about Temple being a bowl eligible cast off.

My initial reaction was “why not?” It was easy to be angry because this was the second time in four years the Owls had been in this situation: bowl eligible and not invited to the postseason. Plus, they had improved so much from last year that this year probably felt a lot better than it actually was. This had been an exciting 6-6 season to say the least.

I started to play the “if game.” If Temple beat Houston, the Cougars would probably be in this position instead. If Oklahoma State (a five-win team going into the last week) didn’t pull of a win at Oklahoma, Temple would probably be in a bowl.

But the more I thought about it, the more the question made less sense to ask. There is no simple answer, it’s more of a collaboration of reasons.

The AAC sold its sixth bowl spot to Conference USA for this season, meaning only five bowl-eligible teams had a spot. To be secure, the Owls needed to finish top five in the conference. They finished sixth. They needed Oklahoma State to lose to Oklahoma. The Cowboys won in overtime.

Next year, the AAC has six bowl spots.

And, reality is, Oklahoma State obviously deserved to go to a bowl over Temple. It has a bigger fan base, but it also had better wins, a better team, and plays in a better conference. The Cowboys beat the Sooners in overtime on the last game of the season to be eligible or else Temple would probably have gone.

I assume Temple would have been selected for the final spot if State lost because I believe Temple was the best bowl-eligible team to not go to a bowl.

There were six teams that were bowl-eligible castoffs. Here’s how they stack up:

1. Temple – Of all of the bowl-eligible castoffs, the Owls had the single best win: No. 23 East Carolina in the midst of a five-game winning streak. Temple pulled off the upset but was unable to swing the momentum of their season, losing the next three. The Owls came soaring out of the gates with a win at Vanderbilt, but ran out of gas midway through the season. Still, they lost to respectable teams like Penn State, Cincinnati, UCF, and Memphis. None of their losses came to non-bowl teams.
2. Texas State – This team won seven games, the most of any of the castoffs. They’re probably more of a “1b.” than a “2.” But instead of explaining myself, I’ll have one of the coach’s daughters do that.
3. Middle Tennessee State – The Blue Raiders beat Old Dominion, UAB, and bowl-bound Western Kentucky. They certainly had a case.
4. UAB – Not that it’s a surprise, but talk about a kangaroo punch to the throat. As I’m sure you know, the football program had a very public shutdown that most of us just started forgetting about and are now forced to remember.
5. Ohio – The Bobcats didn’t beat anybody worth mentioning and when they lost, they lost big.
6. Old Dominion – I never thought I would rank Old Dominion in anything that had to do with football. But here I am. Though ineligible due to NCAA transitioning rules, in its first year in the FBS, ODU had a weirdly efficient season with an efficiently weird offense. It scored wins against bowl-bound Rice and Louisiana Tech with a stout offense that led them to 6-6. I think there’s a sizable gap between Temple and ODU here, but in a seven game series I see the Monarchs taking game three at home.