TMCnet News
Temple scraps plans for 12th game at HawaiiNov 14, 2012 (The Philadelphia Inquirer - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Temple will not be playing a 12th football game this season in Hawaii. Negotiations between the schools ended, and they were unable to come to terms, Temple announced on Tuesday. The schools had worked on playing Dec. 7 at Aloha Stadium. "We felt we had an agreement in place with the University of Hawaii, but in the end its administration was unable to fulfill it due to unforeseen circumstances," Temple Director of Athletics Bill Bradshaw said in a statement. When Temple returned to the Big East this year, it had only seven conference games compared to eight last season while competing in the MAC. That gave Temple the opportunity to play another nonconference game. Temple (3-6, 2-4 Big East) has two games remaining, Saturday against Army and Nov. 23 at Lincoln Financial Field against Syracuse. "We are disappointed," Temple coach Steve Addazio said during Tuesday's press luncheon. "We had an agreement in principle, and it was a great opportunity for our football program and their football program to get an extra game and a couple of extra weeks of practice." Hawaii interim athletic director Rockne Freitas was unavailable for comment when contacted by The Inquirer, but he was quoted in the Honolulu Star Advertiser as saying, "The numbers didn't add up." The reaction of the players was predictable. "This is definitely disappointing for the seniors," punter and placekicker Brandon McManus said. The extra game would have given Temple a shot to finish at .500 and be considered for a bowl game. In order to earn a bowl bid a team must have a .500 or better record. However, Addazio expressed confidence that Temple could earn a bowl bid with a 5-6 record. "With the bowl eligibility, things are still on the table," Addazio said. When asked if that was because there may not be enough .500 or better teams to fill the 35 bowl games, he replied, "Right, and we have an 11-game schedule." By that he meant that a 5-6 team would have a better chance than a 5-7 squad. There are 124 Football Bowl Subdivision teams, and 74 are .500 or better. But some, such as Penn State and Ohio State, are ineligible for bowl consideration. ------ Contact Marc Narducci at [email protected]. Follow @sjnard on Twitter. ___ (c)2012 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.philly.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |