A season after Temple tied for third in the competitive American Athletic Conference, the Owls are expected by some to take a step back in 2015-16.
On Tuesday, Temple was picked to finish sixth in the AAC preseason poll in voting by the league’s head coaches.
SMU is the preseason favorite for the first time in league history, ahead of UConn, Cincinnati, Tulsa and Memphis. After Temple, Houston was selected seventh with East Carolina, UCF, USF and Tulane rounding out the poll.
The Owls graduated standout point guard Will Cummings but return two of their top four scorers in seniors Quenton DeCosey and Jaylen Bond, who was named the solo team captain after leading the AAC in rebounding last season.
No Temple player was named to the preseason all-conference first or second team. SMU’s Nic Moore was tabbed as the conference’s preseason player of the year.
The 2015-16 campaign begins Nov. 13 with the Owls taking on No. 1 North Carolina as part of the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md. Temple opens conference play at Cincinnati on Dec. 29.