Fran Dunphy

Time and TV money will tell whether the great college basketball conference shuffle leaves Temple better or worse off than they have been in the Atlantic Ten Conference. Once again, on Sunday, the Owls' A-10 membership helped deliver a berth in the NCAA tournament. Not only did Fran Dunphy's team get in for the sixth consecutive year, Temple was awarded a surprisingly high No. 9 seed. For all the tears shed over the end of the Big East as we've known it, the A-10 is changing every bit as much.

Through a sometimes queasy season, the Temple Owls looked like a team that could win a game or two in the NCAA tournament. After Sunday's exhilarating win over Virginia Commonwealth, we're going to find out. The Temple team that beat Syracuse but lost to Canisius, that beat St. Louis and La Salle but lost to Duquesne, found itself trailing No. 21 VCU by 16 points in the first half. This was the moment. Either the Owls would get run off the floor by VCU's self-proclaimed "Havoc" defense or they would declare themselves a real contender.

IT CERTAINLY WAS an emphatic closing statement. And it was probably enough to just about ensure that Temple's basketball team, one of many that were still supposedly straddling the dreaded bubble, will be part of the Madness for the sixth consecutive March. Sunday afternoon at a jammed Liacouras Center, the Owls (23-8, 11-5 Atlantic 10) finished the regular season with their seventh straight victory, 84-76 over 21st-ranked Virginia Commonwealth (24-7, 12-4). It gave them the third seed in the conference tourney, which begins Thursday in Brooklyn.

Tony DiLeo's job as the general manager of the 76ers doesn't provide much free time. His oldest son, T.J., is busy in his own right, playing Division I basketball at Temple while pursuing a master's degree in marketing. But the DiLeos still find plenty of time to talk hoops. "We're a basketball family," Tony says. Despite a schedule littered with practices, games and travel, Tony makes it to as many Temple games as possible. Fifteen or 20 minutes after the final buzzer, he will meet his son on the side of the court and offer pointers.

IT CERTAINLY WAS an emphatic closing statement. And it was probably enough to just about ensure that Temple's basketball team, one of many that were still supposedly straddling the dreaded bubble, will be part of the Madness for the sixth consecutive March. Sunday afternoon at a jammed Liacouras Center, the Owls (23-8, 11-5 Atlantic 10) finished the regular season with their seventh straight victory, 84-76 over 21st-ranked Virginia Commonwealth (24-7, 12-4). It gave them the third seed in the conference tourney, which begins Thursday in Brooklyn.

IF, IN FACT, the NCAA selection committee determines that only one - Temple or La Salle - may play in the greatest tournament in sports, March will be poorer for it. Perhaps the country's greatest enigma, Temple on Thursday night somehow managed to blow out La Salle twice, in the same game. Perhaps possessed of the most entertaining backcourt in college hoops, La Salle somehow both shrank from the program's biggest moment in 2 decades . . . and proved it belongs among the nation's finest.

AMHERST, Mass. - Teams with Temple's resumé generally have a slim-to-zero chance of getting an at-large bid in the NCAA basketball tournament. But the Owls are holding out hope after Saturday's 83-82 victory at the Mullins Center. That game provided a much-needed bounce-back victory for Temple (17-8, 6-5 Atlantic Ten), which suffered a disappointing home loss to lowly Duquesne on Thursday. "It's really important," coach Fran Dunphy said of the victory over the Minutemen.

The frightful weather outside makes it a great day for people who were outside shoveling snow to come in, plop in their favorite chair and watch wall-to-wall basketball Saturday on television. However, if you're a fan of St. Joseph's, you may not be able to see the Hawks. The Hawks arrived in Hadley, Mass., around 2:30 p.m. Friday for their game against Massachusetts. That was about 90 minutes before all roads in the state were closed until further notice by Gov. Deval Patrick because of a blizzard that was supposed to dump 18 inches of snow on nearby Amherst and more in other portions of the state.

Temple reserve Dalton Pepper knows the unwritten rules of being a reserve. To do it right, you stay in the game mentally every play. "Just never be out of the game in my head. I visualize myself out there playing," Pepper said. He's done more visualizing than playing this season because he's rarely found a rhythm after transferring from West Virginia. He's missed three-quarters of his three-pointers, which were supposed to be a strength. That didn't change Wednesday in the first half against Charlotte.

THERE WAS a point Wednesday night at the Liacouras Center when it pretty much became clear that if Temple was going to avoid a second straight home loss, Khalif Wyatt would probably have to take matters into his own hands. Because that's what he can do. Ask Syracuse. This time, that moment came with 16 minutes to go, after a Penn team whose only win since the end of November had come last week by one at NJIT, had taken a nine-point lead. That's what can happen when it's a city game.