A commercial for ESPN’s college basketball tip-off, an event that will feature 24 straight hours of games today, features Georgetown in three clips.

Two of the clips highlight former players Jessie Sapp (COL’09) and DaJuan Summers, both of whom will not be at Verizon Center when Georgetown plays its home opener against Temple today. Georgetown’s student section, featured in the other highlight on ESPN, may also have trouble getting to the game.

To accommodate ESPN’s coverage, Georgetown will play host to Temple for a 4 p.m. tip-off. Tuesday afternoon is primetime for class meetings, and it is unclear how many students will be able to make it to the arena.

Although getting fans in the stands will be a tall order, the far greater challenge will come on the court in the form of two-time defending Atlantic 10 champions, the Owls. Temple, an 11-seed in last year’s NCAA tournament, upset then-No. 8 Tennessee by 16 points last season, and also knocked off a ranked Xavier team in their conference tournament.

Temple graduated three starters, including star Dionte Christmas, but they return all other significant contributors. Christmas averaged nearly 20 points per game in his final three seasons, and finished his Temple career with over 2,000 points.

With three new starters, Temple did not miss a beat in its season opener. The Owls used an early 30-5 run to cruise to a 76-56 win at Delaware on Saturday. Led by senior guard Ryan Brooks’ 23 points, Temple controlled every aspect of the game. The Owls got to the free throw line 27 times and converted 22 times.

Georgetown is coming off of a 74-58 win at Tulane. Four players reached double figures, and the Hoyas shot 52.8 percent from the field. They jumped out to an early lead before letting the Green Wave close the gap to five at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room, Georgetown pulled away by shooting 61.5 percent and gathered 11 assists on 16 field goals.

“I think our guys did a terrific job in the second half of being businesslike with our approach to `let’s get stops’ and `let’s get a good shot,'” Head Coach John Thompson III said after his team beat Tulane on Friday night. “It was good to see that for the first game. You come down here, and this isn’t your typical opening opponent.”

Tulane Head Coach Dave Dickerson, who did not have a player over 6-foot-7 against Georgetown, attributed the Hoyas’ win in part to their overwhelming size and athleticism. Temple will likely start 6-foot-11 Michael Eric and 6-foot-9 Lavoy Allen to matchup against the Hoyas’ star center, sophomore Greg Monroe, and forwards, junior Julian Vaughn and sophomore Henry Sims.

Georgetown will look to keep its record perfect this afternoon, regardless of the attendance at Verizon Center.

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