Ivy League Power Rankings Week 2

Itâ€™s been a pretty brutal week for the Ivy League, the 7-12 mark made worse by the relative ease of competition faced during that stretch. Both Princeton and Harvard dropped disappointing games to an Army squad that seemed to benefit from its opponentsâ€™ off nights more than its own proficiency. Penn lost a pair of winnable home contests, and Cornell couldnâ€™t pull out its much anticipated home date with Seton Hall.

With even more BCS teams on the league slate and some quality mid-majors, expect the leagueâ€™s 15-21 record to go even further south in the coming week.

8. Dartmouth

Maybe the Big Green beats UNH or St. Francis (NY) at home. Otherwise, Iâ€™m struggling to find a game that this team can win.
Dartmouth is the third worst offensive team in basketball and its defense is well outside the top 200. The Big Green will struggle to eclipse the 3-25 mark posted by the 2003-04 squad.

7. Penn

No Bernardini, no Schreiber, and Darren Smith has shot horribly. For now, the Quakers can pitch camp here.

Theyâ€™re not going to spend all year down here, though. Mike Howlett is pulling down 33 percent of defensive boards, Zack Rosen has been incredibly strong leading the offense and Rob Belcore and Jack Eggleston have been solid as well. The injuries and lack of depth are really hurting this team right now, but this team still has enough talent to make noise in Ivy play.

6. Yale

Jordan Gibson is one of the biggest surprises in the league this year, and Michael Sands and Paul Nelson have anchored the frontcourt admirably. Oh yeah, and that Alex Zampier guyâ€™s been pretty good too.

The Bulldogs arenâ€™t very deep and theyâ€™re uncharacteristically getting killed on the defensive boards. But with those four guys playing very strong basketball, Yale should be able to win a decent number of games against teams that canâ€™t overpower them on the glass.

5. Princeton

Letâ€™s call this the Ivy Leagueâ€™s holding pattern spot. Princeton is only the Ivyâ€™s fifth-best team if the Ivy League is going to be a high-teens ranked league this year.

Doug Davis needs to get it going for the Tigers. His efficient field goal percentage of 40 doesnâ€™t concern me too much â€“ the team is full of shooters â€“ rather itâ€™s the nine percent assist rate and 30 percent turnover rates that are frightening.

With California and Rutgers on the horizon, we should learn a lot more about Princeton rather quickly.

4. Brown

The troubling Bryant result notwithstanding, the Bears have played an incredibly difficult schedule and almost pulled off a tremendous upset at St. Johnâ€™s. Sure, sneaking past two teams ranked in Pomeroyâ€™s 320s doesnâ€™t bolster their resume, but if Brown can keep teams off the offensive boards, it should put up solid double-digit wins.

Itâ€™s been really good to see Matt Mullery picking up right where he left off.

3. Harvard

Turnover after turnover â€“ 30 to be exact â€“ doomed a very strong Crimson team from matching the 2005-06 teamâ€™s 5-0 start, but if it can win its final two games (@BU and vs. Rice â€“ neither remotely a gimme) before the UConn, BC and Georgetown run, it would move to 6-1, which would be the programâ€™s best start since going 11-1 in 1984-85.

The Crimson has played the leagueâ€™s weakest non-conference slate thus far, so its 4-1 record is not all that impressive. Seven of its next eight are varying levels of difficult, however, as Harvard runs through the five mentioned above before getting a break versus MIT, then hosting George Washington and visiting a vastly improved Seattle squad. Just going .500 through that stretch would be beyond impressive.

2. Columbia

Youâ€™ve earned it Lions. Despite everyone leaving you for dead with Max Craig getting sidelined in the preseason, youâ€™ve kicked off the season by pushing the most-improved BCS team to the limit and knocking off two very solid Longwood and Bucknell programs. You lead the nation in three-point shooting and youâ€™re being really stingy with turnovers.

Oh, and the much maligned shooting of Noruwa Agho has done a complete 180, and heâ€™s the early-season frontrunner for player of the year.

Tomorrowâ€™s trip to Syracuse should reveal a lot about this Columbia team, but it has been quite impressive thus far.

1. Cornell

Surprisingly enough, the Big Red is not the top Ivy Pomeroy team (Columbiaâ€™s 83rd rank is seven better than Cornell) and doesnâ€™t have the leagueâ€™s best win (Harvard vs. William and Mary â€“ for the moment).

But these anomalies are purely temporary. The Big Red wonâ€™t be a significant underdog in any of its next 10 contests, until its January 6th date with No. 1 Kansas. If Cornell doesnâ€™t sprint out to at least 10-4 by the end of 2009, that would be a mild shock.

Louis Dale is really struggling right now. Heâ€™s picking up 32 percent of the teamâ€™s assists, but heâ€™s also turning the ball over on 31 percent of his possessions. The latter is dangerous for anyone, much less an elite point guard.

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Ivy League Power Rankings Week 2

Michael James

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