The Ivy League announced its major women’s awards last week. But we know this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for: Ivy Hoops Online’s 2025-26 All-Ivy Awards, as determined by IHO’s contributors prior to the 2026 Ivy League Tournament:
Factors favoring No. 14 Penn men’s basketball and No. 3 Illinois in their NCAA Tournament matchup
There is no sugarcoating it: It will take a truly special effort for Penn men’s basketball to pick up its first NCAA Tournament win since 1994 when it squares off with Illinois in Greenville, S.C. Thursday night.
The Vegas line opened with the Fighting Illini favored by 20.5 points and was quickly bet up to a 23.5-or-24.5-point spread, depending on where you looked. For context, the biggest outright Round of 64 upset ever by Vegas odds was Fairleigh Dickinson’s triumph as a No. 16 seed over No. 1 Purdue as a 23.5-point underdog in 2023. Purdue was ranked sixth in KenPom at the time, while FDU was ranked 299th.
For the Quakers, the KenPom gap between themselves and Illinois is not nearly as daunting. Illinois is No. 7, while Penn now sits at No. 150 thanks to its Sunday upset of Yale in the Ivy League title game. That comes with the caveat that the gap between the top teams in college basketball and the rest of the sport has grown dramatically in recent years due to transfer portal movement.
There will be plenty more to discuss ahead of Thursday, but to tide you over, here’s an early look at the matchup:
AP No. 23 Princeton women’s basketball draws NCAA Tournament No. 9 seed, will face No. 8 Oklahoma State
Princeton women’s basketball learned Sunday night it has drawn a No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 Oklahoma State Saturday in Los Angeles in the Tigers’ seventh straight NCAA Tournament berth dating back to 2018.
Princeton and Oklahoma State will tip off at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
The Associated Press-ranked No. 23 Tigers will play the AP-unranked Cowgirls in the UCLA quad and would play the host No. 1-seed Bruins if the latter win their Round of 64 game against No. 16-seed California Baptist.
Penn men’s basketball draws a No. 14 seed, matchup with No. 3 Illinois in NCAA Tournament
TICKET PUNCHED. 🎟️@PennMBB is GOING DANCING once again! 🌿🏀
No. 14 Penn 🆚 No. 3 Illinois pic.twitter.com/WlJvnN8BHC
— Ivy League (@IvyLeague) March 15, 2026
Four hours after it secured its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018 on Sunday, Penn men’s basketball learned it’s a No. 14 seed in the Big Dance and will play No. 3 Illinois in Greenville, S.C. in the tournament’s South region.
Penn and Illinois will tip off at 9:25 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, S.C., with Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson on the call on TNT.
In that previous NCAA Tournament appearance, Penn controversially drew a No. 16 seed and a matchup in Wichita, Kan. with No. 1 Kansas, to whom it lost, 76-60.
Quakeaways from No. 3 Penn men’s basketball’s Ivy League Tournament final win over No. 3 Yale
TJ Power just put up the best individual performance in Quakers history. His 44 points just led Penn to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years. pic.twitter.com/QfnBWFsIlo
— Ian Wenik (@IanWenik) March 15, 2026
ITHACA, N.Y. – Penn men’s basketball is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years after outlasting Yale in overtime, 88-84, in one of the greatest games in recent Ivy League history Sunday at Newman Arena.
The Quakers (18-11) needed a transcendent performance from forward TJ Power to pull off the Ivy League Tournament final upset with leading scorer Ethan Roberts back in Philadelphia, sidelined with a concussion.
Boy, did Power deliver. The junior had a 44-point detonation, which matched Hassan Duncombe for the program’s single-game scoring record since it joined the Ivy League in 1954. Power personally erased what was a four-point Penn deficit with 12 seconds to play by simply dribbling into three-pointers on consecutive possessions.
The last of those threes, a contested shot from the right wing, tied the game at 75 with a second to go in regulation. Yale guard Trevor Mullin (who had hit two clutch free throws to extend the lead to three before Power’s heroic shot) nearly sank a three-quarter-court heave as the buzzer sounded, but it clanged off the back iron.
In overtime, Power — whose free-throw shooting struggles this season have been well-documented — put the Quakers ahead for good with 3:02 left in the extra session following two makes from the charity stripe. He got a ton of help from senior guard Cam Thrower, who had a five-point scoring burst in a 40-second span to give the Red and Blue some critical breathing room.
In his first campaign running his alma mater, coach Fran McCaffery has pulled off one of the biggest single-season turnarounds in recent college basketball memory.
What should Penn fans hold onto from an afternoon of unbridled joy?
TJ Power lifts No. 3 Penn past No. 1 Yale in instant classic Ivy League Tournament final to earn NCAA berth
ITHACA, N.Y. – Now that’s a super Power.
In a game for the ages, junior TJ Power tallied 44 points to lead Penn men’s basketball past Yale in overtime, 88-84, to an improbable Ivy League Tournament championship at Newman Arena and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Power’s 44 points were a career high and tied an Ivy Madness record set a year ago when Harmoni Turner also tallied 44 points to lead Harvard women’s basketball to its first Ivy League Tournament title.
Power drilled seven of Penn’s 14 three-pointers in the monumental victory.
But the last one should never have happened.
Leading by three with five seconds left on the clock, Yale coach James Jones called timeout to set his defense as Penn prepared to inbound the ball under its own basket.
Everyone, including Penn coach Fran McCaffery, assumed the Bulldogs would foul rather than let Power shoot a three.
They were wrong.
Guarded by Yale swingman Casey Simmons, Power quickly dribbled the ball up the court and pulled up just beyond the arc on the right side and let the ball fly. It swished the net to tie the game at 75 with two seconds to go. After a last-second heave by Yale guard Trevor Mullin barely missed, the teams headed to overtime.
Are you kidding me? TJ Power’s last-second three ties the game in the Ivy Madness championship for @PennMBB and we’re going to OT. pic.twitter.com/YzHylvLNDn
— Steve Silverman (@gwynnitas) March 15, 2026
No. 1 Princeton women’s basketball holds off No. 3 Harvard, 63-53, to secure NCAA Tournament berth
So much for the adage that it’s hard to beat a team three times in the same season.
The No. 1-seeded Princeton women’s basketball team defeated No. 3 Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament final on Saturday night, 63-53, completing a three-game season sweep of the Crimson and earning the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
On Friday night, the Tigers vanquished Brown, also for a third time in 2026, in the opening semifinal of the Ivy League Tournament.
Although the Tigers led for 94% of the Saturday night’s championship game and never trailed after the first quarter, the win over Harvard didn’t come easily.
Quakeaways from No. 3 Penn men’s basketball defeating No. 2 Harvard to advance to Ivy League Tournament final
AJ Levine drives and scores the game-winning layup for @PennMBB in OT over @HarvardMBB in an Ivy Madness semifinal. pic.twitter.com/D9skb7EZtg
— Steve Silverman (@gwynnitas) March 14, 2026
ITHACA, N.Y. — Penn men’s basketball is 40 minutes away from its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in eight years after outlasting Harvard in a 62-60 overtime thriller to advance to the Ivy League Tournament final.
Sophomore point guard AJ Levine — more on him later — played the hero after he blew by Harvard sophomore guard Ben Eisendrath off the dribble for a scoop layup with 6.1 seconds to play in the extra session.
With the Crimson in scramble mode, Levine got a hand in Harvard guard Tey Barbour’s face as the sniper put up a three-point attempt to win the game.
Barbour’s shot was off line to the right and a wild celebration ensued.
AJ Levine just sent the Quakers to the Ivy Madness final with a driving layup. Incredible. pic.twitter.com/WNP8gxIR1z
— Ian Wenik (@IanWenik) March 14, 2026
The Quakers (17-11) are now in a position that few expected them to be in back in November. What did we learn about this team as it preps for an empty-the-tank game against Yale for a conference tournament championship?
No. 1 Yale men’s basketball holds off No. 4 Cornell to advance to Ivy League Tournament final
ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior Josh Baldwin entered the center circle for the opening tip Saturday morning at Newman Arena and just smiled at Yale’s Samson Aletan.
At 6-foot-5, Baldwin knew he had no chance to win the jump, but his insertion into the starting lineup has been integral to Cornell’s late-season success, particularly on the defensive end, where the Big Red made great strides to win eight of 11 and somewhat improbably get to Ivy Madness at all after an 0-3 league start. The most prominent of those wins was an uncharacteristic 72-69 slugfest over two-time defending champ Yale two weeks ago.
No. 3 Harvard women’s basketball beats No. 2 Columbia in overtime thriller, advances to Ivy League Tournament final
ITHACA, N.Y. – In the 13th meeting in the last four years between Columbia and Harvard women’s basketball, it was the Crimson coming out on top on a thrilling 67-65 overtime victory at Newman Arena Friday night.