Get schooled.
Nobody may be giving Penn much of a chance of upsetting Texas, but a simulation of Friday’s First Round matchup in College Hoops 2K6 on the Xbox went down to the final buzzer. Here’s how it went down, with images and video.
While Penn and its fans had to be very disappointed with the freakish lack of upsets this year in the one-bid conference tournaments that relegated the Quakers to a 15 seed, there’s a big upside to this for basketball fans. Namely, the NCAA Tournament field is without a doubt the strongest it has ever been from top to bottom since the expansion to 64/65 teams.
Friday, March 17 – 9:50 pm ET
American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
Television: CBS (region by region) – Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play) and Bob Wenzel (color)
Internet video: March Madness On Demand (free)
Radio: 88.5 FM WXPN (Philadelphia)
Internet audio: PennAthletics.com
The Daily Pennsylvanian reports Penn senior Friedrich Ebede fully participated in practice on Tuesday and will be able to play in Friday’s NCAA Tournament First Round game against Texas in Dallas. Ebede had missed the final four regular season games with a groin injury sustained in the first half of the February 24 game against Harvard. The Cameroon native is averaging career highs in minutes (18.6), points (5.2), rebounds (3.2), and assists (1.0) per game in his senior season.
Penn coach Fran Dunphy is reportedly Temple’s top choice to replace John Chaney, who retired Monday after 24 seasons at the school. Dunphy is in his 17th year at the helm of the Penn program, and owns a 310-161 record there. He is busy preparing his team for its upcoming NCAA Tournament game against second-seeded Texas in Dallas on Friday. Some of the other names mentioned in connection with the Temple vacany include Drexel’s Bruiser Flint, former Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins, and former Owl assistant Dean Demopoulos. Temple hosts Akron in the opening round of the NIT on Tuesday, though top assistant Dan Liebovitz will be coaching the Owls instead of Chaney, who will be with his ailing wife.