Men's Basketball: Tigers are better than advertised

At the outset of the 2007-08 school year, espn.com’s Andy Glockner asked if the upcoming Ivy League basketball season signaled “the end of an era.” Cornell (4-0 Ivy, 12-5 overall) and Yale (7-11, 1-3) were selected to finish first and second respectively, with perennial powerhouses Penn (7-12, 2-0) only receiving one first place vote and Princeton (5-12, 2-0) picked at seventh.

Three months later, the Big Red is still at the top of the standings, but counter to Glockner’s assertion, the Quakers and the Tigers have not given up hope of being conference champions. Both are undefeated in the conference heading into the second full weekend of league play. Here’s how things are shaping up so far.

Cornell

Boasting the highest overall winning percentage in the Ivy League and a six-game win streak, Cornell is setting up a run for the conference title. In a 75-64 victory over Brown (10-8, 2-2), which is the only other Ivy League team to have a winning overall record, the Big Red earned its biggest conference win thus far.

Led by sophomore guard Ryan Wittman, who averages 14.9 points per game, Cornell owns the league’s best offense at 76.1 points per game. As a result of the Big Red’s fast-paced style, its defensive numbers are deceiving. Though its overall scoring defense is in the middle of the pack, Cornell holds its opponents to the lowest field-goal percentage in the conference.

Penn

Also undefeated in the Ivy League, with wins against Harvard (6-14, 1-3) and Dartmouth (1-3, 8-10), Penn is trying to defend last year’s conference title despite returning just two starters from its 2006-07 squad. Freshman guard Tyler Bernardini has stepped in to fill the void, leading the team with 13 points per game.

Princeton

After a record-setting 12-game losing streak, Princeton opened its Ivy season against Dartmouth last weekend. Winning 57-54, the Tigers took their momentum forward into Saturday’s matchup with Harvard, dominating the Crimson en route to a 68-54 victory.

As with Penn, Princeton’s two victories have come against two of the weaker teams in the league, so it remains to be seen whether the Tigers will continue their turnaround.

Brown

Last year’s fifth-place team is right back in the middle of the field. The Bears do rank third in the Ivy League in both scoring offense and defense, however. The obstacle thus far has been finishing games. The Bears gave Yale its only conference victory in overtime in a game that Brown probably should have won. A week later, the Bears redeemed themselves, dropping Yale 77-68. Brown’s second loss came against Cornell in a game it was not expected to win.

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Notably, the Bears rank second in the league in free-throw shooting, which will work in their favor in tight games. If they can avoid lapses like they had against Yale, they could make a run toward the top of the standings.

Dartmouth

The Big Green almost pulled off a huge upset on Saturday against Penn but fell short, losing 68-66. The story this season has been a discrepancy between home and away games. On its own court, Dartmouth is 5-1, including its only Ivy League win, while road games have produced lackluster 2-9 overall and 0-3 conference records. The Big Green also has a victory on a neutral court.

Columbia

Yale

Yale takes on rival Harvard — also a 1-3 conference team — Friday, so something will have to give in a game that will surely be heated, as rivalry games always are.

Harvard

Harvard is at the bottom of the league, partly as a result of its dismal play on the road. Similar to Dartmouth, the Crimson is 1-0 at home in the Ivy League and 0-3 on the road. Overall, Harvard has not had any success in its dark jerseys, racking up an 0-11 record on the road.