For Penn to win its third straight Ivy League men's basketball title, it must beat Brown on Friday. But please, coach Dunphy, make sure you don't beat them to a pulp.
While the Quakers will be seeking revenge after their fiasco at the Pizzitola Center earlier this season, they need the Bears to do more than lose at the Palestra this weekend.
Brown must beat Princeton Saturday night.
If both Penn and Princeton sweep their opponents this weekend, the two rivals will be on a collision course for a March 9 showdown at the Palestra. For the Quakers to head back to the NCAA tournament, they will have to not only win this game, but then beat the Tigers again later that week in a playoff game.
Though I feel comfortable with Penn emerging victorious from a must-win game at home, it is tough for any team to beat the same squad twice in a week.
And though there is a lot of basketball to play between today and early March, it's never too early to speculate which players will be honored by the Ivy League at the end of the year.
Rookie of the Year
Entering this past weekend, Dartmouth's Leon Pattman seemed to have this award all wrapped up.
The Tennessee native had secured Ivy Rookie of the Week honors five of the last six times, and was among the league's top 10 in scoring, field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage.
Though only in his first year, he has become the leader on a team that desperately needs a captain -- and now also a coach. The Big Green's new chief will inherit a player around which to start building a program.
And while he is still the heavy favorite, Dartmouth's lone bright spot on the season has been recently hampered by an unspecified injury.
This leaves the door slightly open for Penn forward Mark Zoller and guard Ibby Jaaber.
Zoller figures to be the next in line for the prize if Pattman falters down the stretch. He has averaged over 11 points per Ivy League game -- pouring in 16 points at Princeton and 17 at Brown.
Jaaber's 16.5 points per game this past weekend were good enough to earn Ivy Rookie of the Week honors. His superior athleticism and quickness make him a premier defender and his shot is quickly improving.
But Jaaber will likely have to increase his minutes in the second half of the Ivy season to make a run at this award.
Player of the Year
If the Quakers win the Ivy crown this season, senior Jeff Schiffner figures to take this award.
When the Quakers win, the reigning Ivy Player of the Week is at his best -- averaging 20.4 points per game in Penn's Ancient Eight victories.
Last year's national leader in three-point percentage seems to have refound his stroke from behind the arc -- hitting over 60 percent of his threes in the Quakers' last five games.
But if Penn doesn't go back to the NCAA tourney, count on Cornell's Ka'Ron Barnes to win Ivy Player of the Year -- even if the Big Red doesn't win. Barnes leads the league with 21 points per game. He is also atop the leaderboard in assists and steals.
With no big-time player on Princeton's squad, Barnes is poised to be the first athlete since Columbia's Craig Austin in 2000-01 to win Player of the Year honors for a non-championship team.
First-team All-Ivy
Aside from Schiffner and Barnes, look for Quakers swingman Tim Begley to make this team. He entered last weekend as the nation's fifth-leading three-point shooter and has scored double digits in all but one Ivy game.
Brown's Jason Forte will almost certainly be among the league's elite at the end of the season. He has been the general of a Bears team that surprisingly rests just a half-game out of first place.
The big man position is the most up for grabs in the league. Right now, I'd have to go with Princeton's Judson Wallace. While Wallace's numbers have dropped off severely since the beginning of the year, he seems to be getting back on track -- scoring over 20 points in both games last weekend.
