Get schooled.
Friday, March 17 – 9:50 pm ET
American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
Television: CBS (region by region) – Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play) and Bob Wenzel (color)
Internet video: March Madness On Demand (free)
Radio: 88.5 FM WXPN (Philadelphia)
Internet audio: PennAthletics.com
Despite shooting itself in the foot with the loss at Princeton in the regular season finale, Penn still had a very good shot at a 14 seed — and even somewhat of a shot at a 13 seed — entering conference tournament play. The Ivy champ can generally count on upsets in conference tournaments to raise its seeding one or two spots, but there was no such help this year.
Tonight’s Penn-Princeton rematch isn’t going to have any effect on the standings. The Quakers wrapped up the Ivy title last Friday, while the Tigers are securely lodged in second place, regardless of tonight’s result. But there is definite meaning to the game for both teams — and beyond the usual talk of the rivalry.
When ivybasketball.com first came on the scene back in 2000-01, we listed Frank Sullivan under “Coaches on the Hot Seat” in our inaugural season preview. This was based on statements by some trusted sources. However, it turned out they were just speculating idly based on some circumstantial information and a weak one-man recruiting class that fall. Coming off its fifth-straight upper division finish, several people around the Harvard program made it known that this was not the case.
With all the close games in the league this season, it’s interesting to wonder what things would look like if the breaks that decided those games had gone the other way. Here’s how those games turned out in that bizarro world: