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Yale men’s basketball dispatched preseason MAAC favorite Quinnipiac (1-2) in Hamden, Conn. last night, 97-60. Yale (2-0) was down early and grabbed a 24-23 lead over the hosts (1-2) and the Bulldogs were off to the races.
“It was a great team performance. Our kids played really well together,” said coach James Jones.
Tip of the hat to the graduated John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng. BUt Nick Townsend and Riley Fox are now Yale men’s basketball’s leaders, and the rest of the Ivy League should be warned that the Bulldogs are still the team to beat after their 97-68 road trouncing of Navy to open their 2025-26 campaign.
The release of the Ivy League preseason media poll and 2025-26 Media Day revealed Princeton as the favorite heading into the 2025-26 season, followed by three-time defending champion Columbia, 2025 Ivy Madness title-holder Harvard in third and Penn rounding out the upper half of the conference.
Brown, which has tied the Quakers for fourth place the last two years, is the clear choice for the fifth slot. Dartmouth, Cornell and Yale are pegged for the last three spots, with the Big Green one point ahead of the Big Red and seven points in front of the Bulldogs.
The 2025-26 Ivy men’s basketball season tips off Friday, so it’s time for Ivy Hoops Online’s preseason poll – not to be confused with the Ivy League-released media preseason poll. Here’s how our contributors collectively predict the league will shake out, with select observations from some of them:
When a team loses arguably two of the top 10 players in its basketball history in John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng, it is tough to believe that it would be the overwhelming favorite to win the Ivy League.
But don’t tell that to James Jones. You see, Yale merely reloads each season.
Over the past several years, the Ivy League hosted separate media days for the women and men’s basketball programs. This year, however, the Ancient Eight is trying something new by partnering with The Field of 68 for a single day event on Oct. 28.
The virtual broadcast will feature the head coach and one student-athlete from each team, as well as an interview with Ivy League executive director Robin Harris. At the time of the conference announcement, the specific hours were not finalized.
Call it what you want, leaderless or rudderless. That’s what some Ivy League coaches, alumni and donors are saying right now in droves. And it is spot on. Those terms apply to the recent Ivy mandate further restricting the ability of its student-athletes to receive NIL compensation.
Nothing exemplifies this more than the recent Ivy mandate further restricting the ability of its student-athletes to receive NIL.
Yale doesn’t rebuild. It reloads.
It is trite but true. Yale and Princeton have been the premier Ivy programs since 2015. But it looks as if Yale will hold that mantle this year, as it has the last two regular seasons.
Incoming frosh will be vastly better than their recruiting rankings, and sophomores will become contributors and then ultimately stars. It always happens for Yale.
Ivy basketball is at a crossroads.
There is no other way to say it. Could the Ivy be Division III in five years? Although it’s highly unlikely, it’s not impossible like it was 10 years ago.
The triple whammy of no sanctioned NIL, opting out of revenue share and no graduate transfer eligibility has cast a shroud over the league – one which is perceptible on the recruiting trails and on the court.
After a series of player and coach interviews, it is clear that there is no consensus on the direction of Ivy athletics but a clear consensus that the Ivy presidents and some athletic directors are clueless about the current landscape of college athletics.
Call it ignorance. Call it arrogance. It is both and more.
The Yale women’s basketball team took a cultural and basketball trip to Barcelona, Spain and Nice, France last week.
The Bulldogs likely were more successful with the cultural activities, dropping both games played.