There is little worse than wasted anticipation, a pizza stuck to the top of a home delivery box, a trip down the shore delayed by a flat tire and a Starbucks’ coffee cup that leaks are some that come to mind.

All happened to me in the past six months.

My biggest wasted anticipation, though, by far is this 2023 Temple football season.

It’s really hard to admit that you are wrong but the logic coming into the season was fairly clear: There was much good to anticipate. My favorite sports team, the Temple football Owls, had taken two bowl teams to the wire in the final two games of the year and probably should have won both games.

No worries, I thought. This was a learning experience and the Owls would use those lessons to leapfrog from a three-win mindset to a winning one. Bowl game here we come. “Temple football is back, baby. Watch out for my Owls. Even Everett Withers can’t mess this up.” That’s what I told everybody who saw me wearing the Temple swag on my bike rides, walks and jogs this summer.

What happened?

There were no significant offseason acquisitions when many needed to be had, particularly on both lines. Plenty of P5 guys who entered the portal last December and could have helped the Owls this season remained in the portal by the kickoff against Akron. If I knew that and you knew that, surely the brain trust being paid handsomely to oversee a multimillion dollar program in a $17 million practice facility certainly must have known that.

Think again.

They sat on their hands, transfer portal wise, and let everybody else in G5 college football pass them.

They downgraded a third of the game (defense) with one of the worst hires in the history of Temple football.

The logic that now dictates Temple football has come to this conclusion: Even Vegas is way off. Temple is 2-6 on the season but only 0-7-1 against the spread (the Norfolk State game was a push).

Vegas says the Owls are “only” 6.5-point underdogs against Navy tomorrow (2 p.m., ESPN+) but the new logic, like new math, dictates otherwise.

In the only common opponent comparison, Navy beat North Texas, 27-24. Temple lost to North Texas, 45-14.

Now you can say transitive property doesn’t work until you are blue in the face but Temple’s defense did all but bring those matador capes out and allow the Mean Green to score at will. Navy’s defense fought like hell and held that same team to three touchdowns.

Do you expect Temple’s defense, which hasn’t fought like hell since the second half against Akron, to suddenly start doing so in 24 hours?

Logic dictates otherwise.

The only thing Temple has to hold its hat on is the return of quarterback E.J. Warner but is that even enough?

Remember the last time we saw E.J. he had five touchdown passes and 472 yards (and no interceptions) against a very good UTSA team. All that got him was a 15-point loss.

To me, if Temple has a strength, it’s E.J. and the wide receivers.

If Navy has a weakness, it’s pass defense.

That’s the only logic pointing in Temple’s direction. Praying it is enough for a win hasn’t worked all season and I’m not anticipating anything different.

That flat tire on the trip down the shore taught me to expect the worst and hope for the best not only with my favorite sports team but with life in general.

After the last two months of seeing the worst, we are due for the best. I’m not holding my breath.

Late Saturday Night (pushing Midnight): Navy Game Analysis