The Temple Owls had suffered a slow decline for a national power and the most respected program in the Atlantic 10 Conference to a status of a middle of the road team with a controversial coach who was in decline. In 2004-05 Temple went 16-14 straight up and 14-15-1 against the spread and closed the season in turmoil as head coach John Chaney had ordered an opposing player roughed up in a game towards the end of the season, with that player ending up having broken bones and unable to play in the post season. The coach was under an intense firestorm but survived to retain his job for 2005-06 but questions remained as to how effective Chaney was in the modern era of college basketball.
Mixed messages to start the season
Temple Owls opened the 2005-06 season with a 69-37 win over Army as whopping 29-point home chalks. This was followed up with a 47-54 loss at UCLA as 5-point dogs. Next came a 73-56 win over Miami-Florida as 3.5-point home favorites. Next was a 53-67 loss at Rutgers as 1-point chalks. Temple Owls was sending mixed messages to start the season as gamblers waited for things to sort out.
Strong spurt Temple Owls
Temple next won at Pennsylvania 50-46 as 2-point chalks and followed that up with a 60-47 win at Princeton as 6.5-point favorites. The Temple Owls next hosted Alabama and scored a 68-58 win as 4-point home favorites for their third straight win and cover. Temple was out of gas for their next game at Auburn, a 42-73 defeat as 4.5-point chalks but recovered in their next game at home versus South Carolina with a 63-50 win as 3-point chalks to complete a strong spurt of 4-1 both straight up and against the spread.
Brief dip
Temple Owls next hosted Villanova as an 8.5-point home dog and couldn’t hang with their crosstown rivals in a 53-75-blowout loss. That was followed by a 60-72 home loss to George Washington as 2-point chalks for a brief dip of 0-2 both straight up and against the spread.
Temple Owls On a roll
Temple snapped out of their funk against the spread with a 57-59 loss at Saint Joseph’s as 2.5-point dogs, covering by a mere half-point. That was followed up with an 83-66 win at St. Bonaventure as 5.5-point chalks. Next was a 68-52 win over La Salle as 7-point home favorites. Temple continued on a roll with a 53-51 win at Dayton as 1-point dogs for their fourth consecutive cover and third win in four games. The roll ended with an ugly 34-60 loss at Massachusetts as 1-point dogs.
Back on track
Chaney was able to rally Temple, however, after the UMass debacle as the Owls took an 81-79 home win over Xavier as 1.5-point dogs. They next scored an attention grabbing 91-85 home win over Maryland as 1-point chalks. Temple remained back on track with a strong 76-47 revenge win over Massachusetts as 7-point home favorites for their third consecutive straight up win and cover.
Another dip
Temple next lost at La Salle 56-62 as a 3.5-point chalk as they seemed to have nothing left after getting even with UMass. The hangover continued with a 59-66 loss at Charlotte as 2.5-point dogs as the Owls completed another dip of 0-2 both SU and ATS.
Another run in the black Temple Owls
Temple next beat Duquesne 76-52 as 21.5-point home chalks and followed that up with a 57-44 win at Saint Joseph’s as 5-point chalks. Temple stumbled at Saint Louis 51-56 as 1-point dogs but recovered with a 69-30 blowout win over Richmond as 14-point home chalks. The Owls completed another run in the black with a 66-74 loss to Duke as 10-point dogs.
End of a historic era
Temple lost and failed to cover its final two regular season games before winning and covering the first two rounds of the A10 tournament. The lost both SU and ATS in the third round to St. Joe’s and lost Chaney’s final game as coach in the NIT to Akron which was the end of a historic era.