Everyone remembers Princeton's Gabe Lewullis taking a backdoor pass from Steve Goodrich and hitting the layup with 3.9 seconds to go that stunned defending champion UCLA in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament.
However, two years later the Tigers were even better. They only lost once in the regular season, to No. 1 North Carolina, and dominated the rest of their schedule. The Orange and Black finished with a top 10 ranking and a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Princeton would go on to beat UNLV before falling to Mateen Cleaves and Michigan State in the final minute of its second-round game.
This year's Princeton squad is easily the best team since that 1997-98 unit, but the biggest question is whether the 2004 Tigers can be better than seven years ago.
The media have predicted that Princeton will again finish atop the Ivy League standings, but before the Ancient Eight schedule begins, the Tigers have several games against nationally ranked opponents which will set the tone for their season.
Princeton will face No. 6 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome tonight, after last night's season-opening 61-48 win over Bucknell in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. If the Tigers manage to beat the Orange, they would potentially meet No. 12 Mississippi State and No. 24 Memphis in the championship rounds of the tournament.
On Jan. 5, Princeton travels to No. 11 Duke for the second straight season. The Blue Devils defeated Princeton by 18 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium last season and are 15-1 all time against the Tigers.
Princeton has the chance to show that it deserves respect in those two road games against major opponents, and maybe it can even win one or both of those games.
If they do, the Tigers, who received one vote in last week's ESPN/USA Today Poll, will probably end up nationally ranked.
Why are the Tigers so good this year?
For one, they have four of their five starters returning to a team that won the Ivy League championship last year and was predicted by some to have a chance to upset third-seeded Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Judson Wallace and Will Venable both were first-team All-Ivy League selections last year, and will return this year to lead the Tigers. Both Wallace and Venable were mentioned by Ancient Eight coaches as possible Player of the Year candidates this season.
Wallace led Princeton in scoring and rebounding with 15.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, and Venable led the team with 81 assists and 43 steals.
Also returning to the Tigers' starting lineup are junior guard Scott Greenman and sophomore guard Max Schafer. Senior forward Andre Logan is back for another year, but will start the season on the bench with a knee injury.
None of the five Ivy League coaches who spoke with The Daily Pennsylvanian would rule out a possible trip to the top 25 for the Tigers.
"I think they'll be a very good basketball team," Penn head coach Fran Dunphy said, not elaborating on a specific spot in the national rankings.
"I would think they'd be hovering somewhere around the top 20," Dartmouth coach Terry Dunn said.
Columbia head coach Joe Jones was slightly less generous, saying that the Tigers would be in the "top 25."
Steve Donahue at Cornell and James Jones at Yale both were somewhat more skeptical.
"It is to be determined if they will make it to the next level, although we have seen teams in the past, particularly Penn and Princeton, make that jump," Donahue said. "They could do that."
Jones said that the Tigers could be "a top 50 program."
Whatever Princeton's national ranking will be, new Tigers coach Joe Scott knows that the ranking does not guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament -- only winning the Ivy League does -- and thus the Quakers will have their hands full with Princeton this season.
