This weekend, Yale, Harvard and Princeton can all clinch their spots in the 2019 Ivy League Tournament. With that happening, the other five teams still mathematically have a chance to get that fourth spot, but only three of those teams remain the most likely.
Columbia and Dartmouth each sit at 2-8 in conference play despite playing good basketball, but each becomes mathematically eliminated with a loss this weekend.
However, Cornell, Brown and Penn remain right in the thick of it. Cornell and Brown each sit at 5-5 with a matchup between the two on Saturday in Providence. Remember, Cornell won the first meeting between the teams. Penn sits at 4-6, desperately needing a road sweep this weekend but with a tough Harvard team in its way Friday.
Cornell and Penn will look to Columbia to help play a spoiler role to knock off Brown on Friday on ESPNU, and doing so would put Cornell and Penn in a more likely position to get the final slot.
Looking up top, Yale and Harvard will be all clinched with home wins on Friday, but they won’t come easy, playing Cornell and Penn respectively. Cornell winning at Yale Friday would be a huge boon and confidence-booster for the Big Red.
Princeton can get in with a win and Brown and Cornell losses on Friday, being the simplest way to do so.
Now let’s look at clinching scenarios for Cornell, Brown and Penn:
Cornell
-Three of last four including a win over Brown, one Penn loss
-Cornell splits this weekend and next weekend, including win over Brown, Brown gets swept this weekend, Penn splits
-This weekend: Penn sweeps, Brown and Cornell split, tiebreaker Cornell. Next weekend: Cornell sweep, or all three teams split
Brown
-Three of last four, including win over Cornell and win over Penn (If Penn is tied next Saturday)
-Weekend sweep, Cornell and Penn swept or Cornell swept and Penn split
-This Weekend: Penn sweeps, Brown and Cornell split, tiebreaker Brown. Next Weekend: Brown and Cornell sweep, or Cornell and Brown split, or Cornell being swept and Brown beating Penn
Penn
-Must sweep this weekend and get Brown and Cornell to split, sweep next weekend and get one Cornell loss
-All three split this weekend, Penn sweeps next weekend, Cornell swept at home (Cornell would get tiebreakers with wins against Princeton and Harvard, with a Penn loss Friday)
-All three split this weekend, Penn sweeps next weekend, Harvard loses to Princeton and Columbia
-Penn gets swept this weekend, sweeps final weekend, Cornell loses final four games, Brown beats Cornell and loses other three games
If you come up with more clinching scenarios for Cornell, Brown and Penn in particular, let us know in the comments below!