As we near the halfway mark of the 2022 Ivy League season, here are five thoughts about the state of the race for the men’s league title:
- Yale is still the favorite. The Yale Bulldogs entered the season as the team to beat and after taking down Princeton on the road on Saturday evening, the Bulldogs proved that they remain the favorite to retain their Ivy crown. After trailing Yale for nearly the entire game, Princeton stormed back at Jadwin Gym to make the contest interesting in the final minutes. But Yale weathered the storm when Azar Swain, my candidate for Player of the Year at the midway point, hit an off-balance fadeaway jumper with 39 seconds left to give Yale a decisive four-point lead. As well as Princeton has played this season, it has nearly exhausted its home schedule and will finish the campaign on the road in six of its final eight games. Yale has five home games remaining, including a rematch with Princeton on Feb. 19 in New Haven. Look for that game to determine the winner of the regular season standings.
- Seven teams likely are playing for fourth place. The top three slots in the standings appear to be set with Yale, Princeton and Penn in very good shape to make the Ivy League Tournament. Fourth place, however, appears to be completely up for grabs, with only Columbia having faded from the race. Cornell, at 3-3, appears to have the best chance of qualifying for the fourth and final slot in the league tournament. With five of their remaining eight games at home, I like the Big Red’s chance to secure a spot on the dance card at Lavietes Pavilion in March. Brian Earl’s team has a huge home contest coming up this Friday against Princeton. If Cornell can hold serve in that contest after having taken the Tigers to the wire at Jadwin, it will be in an enviable position to qualify for the Ivy League Tournament for the second time in program history.
- What’s going on with Harvard? Few Ivy League hoops aficionados who aren’t Harvard alumni are lamenting the Crimson’s early travails in league play. At 2-3, Harvard still has time to turn things around. But with five of their remaining nine games coming against league leaders Yale, Princeton and Penn, the Crimson face a stiff challenge and may become the first team in the history of the Ivy League to host the conference tournament without earning a slot in the contest.
- Brown has been a disappointment, but the Bears are still dangerous. With two of the most dynamic players in the League in senior swingman Tamenang Choh and Freshman sensation Kino Lilly, Jr., I expected Brown to be a top-tier Ivy contender. But at 2-5 in conference play, Brown will need to sustain a winning streak to play its way back into contention. The good news for the Bears is that they have five games remaining at home. By my reckoning, they’ll need to win at least four of those contests to have a chance to play their way into the postseason. Brown has the talent to make a run, but after losing three of their last four games by a total of seven points, the Bears will need to dig deeper and find ways to make more clutch plays during crunch time.
- Penn has been a pleasant surprise after losing a ton of talent. Give Steve Donahue and his Quakers credit. After losing several key players, the Quakers have found ways to win big games and so far are the only team in the league to beat Yale. Like Princeton, however, the Quakers have only two home games remaining on their schedule and could be susceptible to a losing streak that jeopardizes their top-four position in the league standings. Should that happen, the Quakers will rue a home loss to cellar dweller Columbia back on Jan. 8. The Lions host a rematch with Penn on Feb. 4. Circle that game along with the regular season finale at the Palestra if you’re a Quakers fan. (Of course, any game versus Princeton is always circled on the Quakers’ calendar.) If the Quakers lose both games, it could spell big trouble for Penn.