In case anyone is wondering how the Penn men's basketball team could lose 32 of its 37 votes in the AP poll after losing to 11th-ranked Temple in what was, for the most part, a close game last week, wonder no more. That is how the poll works. It is entirely conceivable the Quakers will end the season at 24-2, considering Penn went 14-0 last season in the Ivy League. The only blemishes this season may be the loss at McGonigle and a three-point defeat at Ohio State. Still, the Quakers will probably not be close to reaching top-25 status. The typical AP voter did not see the Temple loss. What he saw was that Penn lost the only game it played that week. He didn't see that the Quakers were in the game -- actually, winning the game with six minutes to play. Apparently it was only relevant to the voters that they lost by 11 points, not that they lost to the now 11th-ranked Owls in a hostile North Philly environment. Now, faced with only contests against La Salle, Buffalo and other Ivy foes remaining, the Temple game might have been the Quakers' last real chance to improve their lot in the NCAA tournament. Penn is the odds-on favorite to win the Ivy League, and with it an automatic bid come March. But the remaining games are contests the Quakers are expected to win. Victories will not earn much favor in the eyes of the voters. In addition, the Ivy League representative seldom carries much weight with the tournament selection committee, as shown by Penn's questionable No. 14 seed of a year ago. But if the Quakers are indeed forced to wait until March to gain their due recognition, Penn coach Fran Dunphy does not appear to be concerned. "I don't spend too much time worrying about it," he said. "There's certain things in life you can't control. If we win games, we get the recognition we deserve. There's no great embarrassment in losing to Temple at their place. "If you said to me we're going to be in the tournament, it would put my mind at ease. We just want to get there. It would mean we accomplished our goal of winning our league." Even so, the Quakers would love to advance in the tourney. And if all this talk of the tournament seems premature, consider that Penn won't have any more opportunities this season to go head-to-head with a nationally-ranked opponent. Penn's schedule is front-loaded. The Quakers have already played arguably their four toughest opponents: Southern California, Ohio State, St. Joseph's and Temple. The fact all four of these games were played on the road is not lost on Dunphy. Since the Quakers' quick rise to success, it has become increasingly difficult to get nationally-recognized teams to come to the Palestra. Also, the game against Buffalo in February was a late addition after Holy Cross, a tournament team last year, cancelled. Only a couple years ago a trip to the Palestra meant a probable win for the visitors. Nowadays, the reverse is true. And as it is usually easier for the Quakers to win in the Palestra than on the road, it is easy to wonder what could have happened if the Buckeyes and Owls had ventured into West Philadelphia this season. · If there was any question as to whether or not the student-athlete still exists in college basketball, just take a look at the Quakers' Ivy League schedule. Penn officially began its league season on the weekend of January 7 with victories over Harvard and Dartmouth at the Palestra. But for the Penn faithful eagerly awaiting the Quakers' title defense, the initial Ivy weekend was a bit of a tease. The Quakers do not meet up again with an Ivy foe until three weeks later when they travel to Princeton January 29. The culprit? Harvard's and Princeton's policies of giving final exams after Winter Break. The result is a rather sparse schedule over that period with only three games over a three-week period. "We're not playing league games when most of the rest of the country is," Dunphy said. "At this point, we'd rather be playing league games than practicing, but there's not a lot we can do about it." Ordinarily, other than the lack of games, such a situation would not be too detrimental for the Quakers. However, Penn re-starts its league title defense against the Tigers on the road, the team which is expected to give the Quakers their toughest Ivy challenge. · Penn's sparkling play so far this season has put them in the pink, literally. In case you were wondering why the Quakers have been sporting their road uniforms at home lately, instead of their traditional whites, wonder no more. It seems as though the aforementioned garments were accidentally thrown in the washing machine with the darks, turning the Quakers' lovely home whites into a color more suitable for ballerinas than basketball players. Hurrah for the pink and the blue.
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