Iowa Facing Temple Is Most Difficult Big 10 March Madness Draw

Even though Iowa has been installed as a No. 7 seed against No. 10 Temple, the matchup boils down to whether basketball purists believe this team can beat Cincinnati or UConn twice or even SMU once because that’s what Temple did this season. Iowa doesn’t match up well against those foes nor should it against the AAC regular-season champion Owls, and that is why this first-round matchup (3:15 p.m., Friday, TruTV) is by far the toughest draw of any Big 10 team in the first round.

There are a couple of other reasons, too. Temple is viewed as a so-called mid-major going against a Big 10 team, but that is really a misnomer since Temple is a major basketball power playing in a mid-major conference. The fact that the Owls (21-11) won the AAC’s regular-season title should also be considered, as well as the venue.

Brooklyn’s Barclays Center is a virtual home game for Temple fans, and the combination of Temple and Villanova fans rooting for a second-round game between the two Big 5 powers should make it an even more frenzied home-court advantage. The Owls have a true star in shooting guard Quenton DeCosey, some interesting and useful parts in 6-foot-8 shooting specialist Obi Enechionyia and 6-foot-8 rebounding specialist Jaylen Bond and some instant offense coming off the bench in Devin Coleman, whose 7-for-7 three-point shooting helped beat then-No. 8 SMU earlier in the season.

The Owls are a well-coached team as evidenced by Fran Dunphy being the only winner of the league’s Coach of the Year Award in the two-year history of the AAC. Iowa, on the other hand, is reeling, having lost six of their last eight games.

The Big 10 probably won’t win them all on opening weekend, and this appears to be the most probable loss.