Week 5 Powerpoll

Another week, another great finish for the Ivy League.

All six Ivy teams in action on Saturday either met or outperformed expectations, pushing the league into the teens in every ranking system (16th in Pomeroy and Sagarin and 13th in RPI). Removing the six upcoming non-D-I games, we're over halfway through the non-conference schedule, with the league tracking toward its best finish in the ratings systems in recent history.

Overachiever, Underachiever: Comparing Ivy Teams To Initial Projections

At the beginning of the season, the 14-Game Tournament released its preseason projections for each Ivy team's offensive and defensive efficiency, and with at least four games per team in the books, it's time to take a look back and see how each league team stacks up against their projections.

Tuesday Notebook: Tiger Trouble

It's hard to be faced with the fact that Princeton scored its first field goal of the second half at the 10:01 mark and still say with a straight face that it was the Tigers defense that let them down.

It is, however, the sad truth.

Sunday Notebook: Dartmouth Surprises, Harvard Hangs On

What is it about Hartford that brings out the best in Dartmouth?

After losing its first four games last season by at least 16 points, the Big Green led almost wire-to-wire en route to a double-digit victory. Fast-forward to this season: Dartmouth gets blown out at Providence and squanders a huge second-half lead against UNH. Then, out of nowhere, the Big Green jumps out to a 15-point lead in the first half and Jabari Trotter has a performance reminiscent of the Alex Barnett years.

Quick Thoughts From Wednesday's Games

Jack Eggleston buried his fourth three of the night out of the under eight media timeout to give the Quakers a 54-42 lead, and Penn was well on its way to its second victory in as many tries.

Then things went horribly wrong.

Saturday Notebook: Ivies Jump Out To Hot Start

It's rare that an Ivy team finds itself in a must-win situation against a BCS school, but that's where Princeton was on Friday night, needing a home victory over a fringe top 150 Rutgers squad to prove that it and the league wasn't going to take a big step back in the absence of a dominant Cornell team.

Preseason 14-Game Tournament Powerpoll

Just hours away from tip now, so it's time for the season's first Powerpoll. As a matter of housekeeping, remember that the Powerpoll is not predictive and is only meant to reflect the quality of the teams as of right now.

Previewing The 2010-2011 14-Game Tournament

It's not so easy this year, is it?

After two years of a reigning champion with a stocked, returning roster, the Ivy League is finally up for grabs again. Cornell not only lost four of five starters, but also lost a couple more pieces of its rotation, making the race for the league's automatic bid as muddled as it's been since the Big Red won its first of three straight championships in 2008.

No. 3 Cornell Big Red

Only once in the last eight years has an Ivy team had to replace more possessions than Cornell.

The Big Red begins treading deep into the unknown on Friday night, hoping that the reserves that showed so much promise in limited action can maintain that level of performance when called into the starting lineup. Luckily the league is more wide open than a year ago, when Cornell marched through the Ivies with almost no hiccups, so the Big Red will have some margin for error. But if the three-time defending Ivy League champion Big Red is going to become the first team since early-90s Princeton to represent the Ivies in four straight NCAA tournaments, it's going to need the best possible outcome from several players in new roles.

The talent is definitely there, but the experience is lacking, which could very well be the difference in what will be a tough Ivy race.