Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Rivalries Turn at The Palestra

Inside this week: Recapping the first week of Ivy action, including two rivalry games at The Palestra that set the tone for this season’s race, and looking ahead to more debuts this weekend. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Rivalries Turn at The Palestra”

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Previewing the Openers

Last time, I wrote that this Ivy League season was the most boring one of this decade so far. The very next day, Dartmouth gave Notre Dame a close game and Princeton won at USC. So now I’m going to declare it the worst season of all time and watch what happens this week. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Previewing the Openers”

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Winless Weekend; Lions Stir

Inside this week: The Ivy League went 0-7 on Saturday, including losses to nationally ranked Kentucky, Miami and TCU. Harvard’s up-and-down season continued, while Columbia took two strong opponents to the wire. And non-conference play is going much better for the Ivy women. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Winless Weekend; Lions Stir”

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Series Streaks and Scoring Stars

Half the league picked up their first wins, but 10 days into the season, no team is above .500 in D-I play. Inside this week: Two weird losing streaks continue, scorers keep scoring, and Penn fans demand cheesesteaks. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Series Streaks and Scoring Stars”

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: A Nightmare Start

This is a pretty depressing week to have an Ivy League Weekly Roundup column. We entered the preseason with hopes of a multi-team title race, star power throughout the conference, and realistic chances for quality wins. But on the first day of basketball, the league lost three potential All-Ivy candidates — one indefinitely, one for the season, and one for good. That set the stage for a weekend in which the Ancient Eight nearly went winless in D-I play, an inauspicious start to the season.

The Ivy League isn’t alone. Friday’s top games nationally were Texas A&M-West Virginia, which had two key players suspended, and Georgia Tech-UCLA, which was overshadowed by alleged NCAA violations, LaVar Ball and Louis Vuitton. The biggest college basketball story throughout the season will be an FBI investigation. Sports are never just about actual sports, but it feels especially so right now. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: A Nightmare Start”