Following a staggered start to league play this year and the final regular season non-league game on Monday, we’re finally ready for a full weekend of Ivy action. There’s a lot of fluctuation in the rankings yet again this week, mostly because of some continuing consistency issues throughout the league.
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| 1. | Penn (11-7, 2-0 Ivy) | 1 | The Quakers ran out of gas in the second half against Saint Joseph’s, which could have been the result of playing their sixth half of high-energy Big 5 basketball in 10 days. Losing to the Hawks wouldn’t be so bad if Penn hadn’t dumped games to UTEP and Fordham already. |
| 2. | Cornell (10-8, 3-1 Ivy) | 2 | For the second time in a week, Cornell made the big plays down the stretch to rally for a win against Columbia. After being on the other end of so many of those come-from-behind results outside the league, this could be a sign that Steve Donahue’s young team is maturing. |
| 3. | Yale (7-10, 3-1 Ivy) | 6 | Sweeping the Harvard-Dartmouth road trip for the first time in four years may have made up for the costly home loss to Brown. Yale certainly looked to be back on track this weekend, and the Bulldogs now are 3-0 on the road in the league, which they haven’t done since 2001-02. |
| 4. | Princeton (9-6, 0-2 Ivy) | 4 | The long exam break ends on Monday when Princeton closes out the non-league regular season schedule with a date in the Meadowlands against Seton Hall. While the Tigers would love to have Kyle Koncz for that one, getting him healthy for the weekend is more important. |
| 5. | Harvard (9-9, 2-2 Ivy) | 7 | The Crimson got back to .500 both overall and in the league, and sent Brian Cusworth out a winner on Saturday. Now comes the tough part, as Harvard should have a very different look when it takes the court this next weekend without its dominant big man in the middle. |
| 6. | Dartmouth (7-10, 2-2 Ivy) | 8 | A chance to make a major statement by starting 3-1 went by the boards on Saturday, as Yale weathered a Big Green charge and held on for the win. The upcoming weekend should tell us a lot about Dartmouth this season, with two first-division contenders coming to town. |
| 7. | Brown (6-13, 1-3 Ivy) | 3 | You won’t see many teams put up 57 points in a half and lose, but that’s what happened to the Bears on Saturday at Harvard. Now Brown can turn its attention to Friday’s return to the Pitz by Glen Miller, whose former players would like nothing more than to hand him a loss. |
| 8. | Columbia (10-8, 1-3 Ivy) | 5 | The Lions’ ranking — like their record — is in free fall, as they find themselves at the bottom this week after dropping their third straight game. Ever since the amazing shooting night against Princeton, Columbia’s offense has fallen apart completely, putting it in a major hole at 1-3. |
