The Bulls (6-3) get set to face the Temple Owls (7-3) on Wednesday night. This will be the last non-conference game for the Bulls this season until their road bracket-buster game in late February. Buffalo recently had a tough test at BYU and their high powered offense, which they lost 93-78. Temple was picked to finish towards the top of the A-10 this season, and will present the Bulls with their second consecutive tough road test.
The Owls are mainly a guard driven team, not presenting a lot of size because of injury and just because they're a fairly small team. Temple was also a team that made it to the NCAA tournament last year, and their talent would project them to do the same again this season. They have had a fairly easy schedule so far, with their best lost coming in OT against Wichita State, so who knows how good this Owls team really is this year.
In my opinion this is an important game for the moral well being of the Bulls. Before the year started if you would have asked the Bulls how they would feel about going 6-4 in the non-conference they would tell you they underachieved. A 7-3 record with victories over 2 A-10 opponents would probably give themselves and the fans a sense that this team has the goods to be a serious threat in the MAC this year. I don't think the Bulls have a chance at getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tourney this year (unless they lose 2 games the rest of the year) but a victory over the Owls would be a serious confidence booster going into conference play where they'll open against the 2 toughest conference opponents in Kent State and Ohio.