Temple’s style limits possessions and virtually eliminates any easy baskets, which is exactly the kind of opponent Self has worried about. He ranted after the Belmont game this week, calling his team "soft" and saying it was best suited for "a pretty" game.

Self joked about his words on Thursday, and pointed out that there probably weren’t any coaches completely happy with their team’s toughness. But still, to drive the point home, he’s brought treadmills to practice and ordered them to be set at a steep incline and high speed — waiting for someone in need of punishment.