It was penciled in in September as a huge game. One which would go a long way toward deciding the Ivy League Championship, again: Yale at Harvard. Then something went wrong and something else went very right.
Harvard lost star point guard and Tommy Amaker clone Siyani Chambers to a torn ACL, it was announced in September. Then they lost Zena Edosomwan, whose current status due to injury is unknown. Brandon Sherrod returned from the Whiffenpoofs for the Elis with the body of a seasoned NBA player. Makai Mason improved his ball distribution immeasurably. Justin Sears continued to be, well Justin Sears.
Now the game has far less meaning. Harvard sits at a woeful 1-5 in the Ivies. The Crimson lost by 21 at Princeton and shot 30.9 percent in a loss at Penn. Yale, on the other hand, still has a shot at going 14-0. Harvard will likely do no better than 7-7 in league play, and that is even doubtful. Next season will be far different for the Crimson with the No. 11 recruiting class in the nation, but this is 2016 and it has Boola Boola Blue written all over it. Yale should win at Harvard easily in a low-scoring contest.
Of course, Yale returns to the scene of the crime before it lands in Lavietes Pavilion. The scene of the crime is Leede Arena, where Yale lost its grasp on an outright Ivy title and NCAA Tournament appearance thanks to a last-second layup by Gabas Maldunas set up by Justin Sears deflecting a Dartmouth cross-court inbound pass out of bounds. Dartmouth has struggled with shooting and fouling recently, and Yale’s got unfinished business in Hanover.