Get schooled.
This was the week of Ivies versus the big boys, with four games against Big East opponents and one against a Pac-10 power. Three of them predictably ended up with the Ivy team on the wrong end of a blowout, but two were respectably close. This is noteworthy in that it wasn’t Penn playing these teams close.
On a night when three of four Ivy teams were victorious, it seems a tad negative to focus on Brown. But while Cornell was rolling over Army, Yale was rallying past a scrappy Navy team, and Harvard was blowing a lead then coming back to beat Colgate, the Bears suffered not one but two painful losses against an inferior opponent.
Dartmouth’s loss at Quinnipiac last night dropped the Ivy League’s composite record back down to a season-worst seven games under .500. But help is on the way. After a league-wide trend of tougher games, tonight represents a breather. All four Ivy teams should be favored at home, with Pomeroy predicting all but Yale to win by double digits.
Game of the Week
Harvard (7-3) at #14 Boston College (7-2) – Thursday, December 22, 7:00 pm
This is Harvard’s one shot at non-league glory in 2005. The two teams last met three years ago, with very similar records. A senior-laden Harvard team rallied to trail by just two points with under three minutes remaining, but couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 84-77,
It wasn’t a particularly good week for the league, which went 2-6 and saw Princeton and Cornell both suffer ugly losses. Penn playing #3 Villanova tough was another pleasant surprise, but in the end Harvard was the only Ivy team to win this week.