For one of the league’s traditional powers, Penn’s last decade was utterly forgettable. The Quakers went 10 seasons without a title or an NCAA tournament appearance, the longest such streak in program history, finishing above .500 only once in that span. But that era fully closed on Sunday, when Penn beat Harvard, 68-65, to punch its ticket back to the Big Dance. Continue reading “#2 Penn 68, #1 Harvard 65: Quakers Are Dancing Again”
After a downright weird regular season, the Ivy League Tournament has given us a very normal final: #1-seed vs. #2-seed, co-champion vs. co-champion, Player of the Year against the presumed runner-up. Harvard and Penn split the season series, with each team winning in its home gym — and the rubber match will be at The Palestra, making the Quakers a small favorite on paper. Continue reading “Ivy League Tournament Mini-Preview: #1 Harvard vs. #2 Penn”
Penn throttled Yale from start to finish on Saturday, cruising to an 80-57 win in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal. The Quakers are now 40 minutes from their first NCAA tournament bid in 11 years, and everything is lined up in their favor heading into tomorrow’s championship game — the culmination of three years of improvement under Steve Donahue. Continue reading “#2 Penn 80, #3 Yale 57: Quakers Roll Into Ivy Final”
The outlook: Home-court advantage makes Penn a clear favorite, but if Yale follows the same gameplan it used last weekend, the Quakers will have to play their best to advance. Continue reading “Ivy League Tournament Preview: #3 Yale vs. #2 Penn”
Inside this week: Wrapping up the regular season and handing out NYC Buckets’ individual awards. Don’t miss Ray’s dispatches from Cornell’s clinching victory and Columbia’s crushing defeat, and stay tuned later this week for in-depth Ivy League Tournament previews. Continue reading “Ivy League Season Roundup: NYC Buckets’ Individual Awards”
Inside this week: Penn is officially back (if it wasn’t already), one playoff race heats up, and another ends prematurely. Don’t miss our weekend coverage of Columbia’s big, whistle-filled victory over Brown, and Yale clinching a top-four finish (a scheduled post for every spring until the end of time). Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Down the Stretch”
Inside this week: The results were rather boring, as home favorites rolled throughout the league. But here are three thoughts on how it transpired: Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Home-Court Advantage Holds”
This is the tightest race at the top that I can remember entering a season. For me, it comes down to a toss-up between three body parts tugging in three different directions: Continue reading “Ivy League Preseason Rankings, Awards Forecasts”
Penn
Outlook: Fitting all the pieces together will be a challenge, but the Quakers have enough talent to return to the Ivy League Tournament. Continue reading “34 Teams in 34 Days: Penn”
To steal a phrase from Joe Sheehan, the least important words of any preview are the last ones. As is customary, I’ll make a prediction at the bottom, but we know Championship Week is a crapshoot; the value of a preview is in setting the stage and showing how the game will be decided. Continue reading “Ivy League Tournament Preview: #4 Penn vs. #1 Princeton”
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