Temple football asked to leave the country

By Mike Gibson
It seems there aren’t a whole lot of people out there who can deal with any success Temple football has.
A few weeks after Temple beat then fellow Big East conference member Rutgers for the fourth-straight season, the Owls were asked to leave the Big East for being “non-competitive.”
Conveniently, Rutgers being non-competitive with the non-competitive team wasn’t an issue then.
Now, after the first season in which Temple won nine straight games in its history, the Owls are being asked to leave the country.
Don’t worry.
This time, unlike the last, it’s a good thing, not a bad one.
Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw appeared late Saturday afternoon on the Bob Rovner radio program on a Philadelphia station for a two-hour guest stint (WWDB-AM) and much of the talk centered on Temple football.
In it, he hinted strongly that Temple will be asked to leave the country only because it will be extended an offer to the International Bowl in Canada shortly.



Bill Cosby talks Temple football with John Kincade on ESPN radio (97.5 in Philly) Sunday morning, Nov. 29th at exactly 9:25.

The delicious irony in this:
One of the three possible opponents Bradshaw mentioned was Rutgers.
(The other two were South Florida and West Virginia.)
“You might think WIP and 950 are the sports radio stations in town, but we talk more Temple sports here on my show than anywhere else,” said Rovner, a former state senator and Temple grad.
Although the show is ostensibly a political one, Rovner wasn’t kidding. Co-host Frank Rizzo Jr. was away, so Rovner got to play sports talk show host for a day.
The show talked Temple sports, mostly football, for two hours.
Bob Bernardo, a former Owl linebacker who played for the last Temple team to win nine in a row, was a call-in guest.
The meat of the show centered on bowl scenarios.
Bradshaw also hinted (strongly) that the university might be forced to turn down an Eagle Bank Bowl Invitation for that International Bowl berth.
He speculated that Central Michigan would go to the GMAC in Mobile and Ohio to the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit, leaving Toronto and a Big East foe on the table for the Owls.
There was another option, he said.
He noted the Eagle Bank Bowl was tricky because it would be the last invitation extended and it would be contingent upon Navy beating Army.
But that Army-Navy game is set for Dec. 12, a week after all the bowls are offered.
Should Army pull off the unlikely upset, the team accepting that contingency bid would be left outside of the bowl picture.
That’s why Temple is likely to accept a bowl invitation, probably Toronto, when the initial offers are extended on Dec. 6.
“We might have that kind of choice,” he said. “I should know more around 3:30 on Monday afternoon after we have a conference call with the MAC.”
The Eagle Bank Bowl would be tempting in that considerably more Owl fans would be able to make the trip.
Despite forecasts to the contrary in 1979, Temple traveled very well to its last bowl game, drawing over 55,000 its 28-17 win over California in the second Garden State Bowl.
Temple could travel very well to D.C., not nearly as well to Toronto.
The allure of Toronto, though, could be playing a team from a conference that kicked the Owls out.
The interview between Rovner and Bradshaw will be rebroadcast on WWDB in one week.
By then, though, the Owls and their fans will probably be applying for passports.

12 thoughts on “Temple football asked to leave the country

  1. As an Owl fan all these years I always promised myself that I would attend Temple's first bowl game since 1979. I would have preferred the GMAC Bowl, primetime on ESPN the day before the National Championship game (I think those facts are correct) but the International Bowl is even better, give us a chance to get some revenge on the Big East. Just wish the Huskies of UConn were the possible opponent.

  2. As much as the Eagle Bowl would be nice (I would seriously consider going)… as a program, the International Bowl offers much more. As long as its Rutgers, I'm fine with it.

  3. I think I'm in a minority here, but I want to roll the dice and go to the Eagle Bank Bowl.Playing East Carolina (an Owl foe from the Bruce Arians day) would be an attractive matchup and I think we'd be able to draw 10K Owl fans to D.C., since it's a short drive/train ride.Army is not getting within a sniff of Navy this year and that's the only reason I would do this.Navy might win that game 34-0, 35-7, 38-3, something like that.

  4. FYI, The Buffalo fans loved the I-Bowl (excluding Canadian Blue Laws). While the Eagle Bank Bowl would be a better fit going to the I bowl would be a good time for Temple Fans..

  5. I think I have to agree to roll the dice with the Eagle Bank Bowl, as it would give Owl fans the best chance to watch the game. At this point I think if you don't have a passport it would be pretty difficult to get one in time for the International Bowl, although I could be (and hope) that I am wrong. While it would be a mid-week game vs. the Saturday of New Years weekend, I think it would be good for us to play in DC.

  6. U.S. citizens do not need a passport to enter Canada.

  7. will the international bowl be on tv? prime time? i woud love to play rutgers and rekindle the old rivalry!! love the blog keep up the good work spreading tu news!!! all we need now is 4 the daily news to hire u as the temple football beat writer and i would finaly get some real and regular owls football news!

  8. thanks, dgav. Is that former Big East commissioner Dave Gavitt? Only kidding.It would be nice to be the Temple beat writer but I do this out of love, not money. (Plus the Temple beat writer has to show up for work in the summers and working in the summer is against my religion.)Now back to the question:The International Bowl will be on national TV, ESPN2.It'll be an all-Temple day on ESPN2.If I was Bill Bradshaw, i would work an either/or deal with NIU or BG and International and Eagle.If Navy wins, TU goes to Eagle Bank and NIU/BG to goes to International.If Army pulls off the upset of upsets, NIU/BG hold the bag and TU goes to International.TU should have the upper hand since it has nine wins and those teams have 7.Is Bill Bradshaw enough of a wheeler dealer to do this?

  9. As for AG and VA., Mike London will get the job. He's black and he's qualified. In fact, I hope Notre Dame hires Ty Willingham back (they didn't know how good they had it with him) and Maryland hires Ron Dickerson.I would hope no white guys are hired this offseason. 🙂

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