In the past, Penn might have overlooked a Dartmouth squad coming off a nine-win season and picked to finish dead last in the Ivy League preseason poll.
Not this year, though. For one, Quakers coach Glen Miller doesn't put any stock in Dartmouth's preseason ranking.
"Who were they picked by, you guys?" Miller joked. "There should be a coaches' poll. I'm sure a coaches' poll would be a little different than the media who doesn't know what they're talking about for all of these teams."
The Big Green lost Leon Pattman, their leading scorer last season, but their 8-8 overall start - including 1-1 in the Ivy League - is their best since the 1996-97 season.
Miller said that Dartmouth is a better and more experienced team this year and called junior big man Alex Barnett "one of the top five players in the league."
The 6-foot-6 Barnett has averaged nearly 17 points, seven rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game on over 48-percent shooting from the field.
He's complemented by junior guard DeVon Mosley, who has averaged over 12 points per game, while recording 29 steals in only 16 contests.
The Big Green would normally be prohibitive underdogs playing at the Palestra. But this year the Quakers have proven to have a very small margin of error.
"I think the Ivy League is pretty balanced this year," senior guard Michael Kach said. "Dartmouth might be picked last, but they can beat anybody in" the Ancient Eight.
Given their own struggles in their non-conference schedule, the Quakers say they can't afford to take any game lightly.
"Especially with our record right now, we can't look past anybody," junior guard Kevin Egee said.
Saturday's match-up may be especially difficult because Penn will be playing its second game in its first Friday-Saturday set of the season.
"Especially with a young team, it will be interesting to see how we respond," Kach said.
"Playing back-to-back nights, you're sore, you feel like you need a little rest, but once the adrenaline starts going, we should be all right. I think the biggest thing is to be mentally ready more so than physically."
Miller said that fatigue is a challenge for every Ivy League team and that it wouldn't necessarily be a factor even for his less-experienced players.
"Sometimes the games aren't as clean on the second night, but it's the will to win in a lot of cases that comes out on top," Miller said.
Given the relative parity of the Ivy League this season, the Quakers realize that they cannot afford to drop too many games at home.
"It's important to win every game," Egee said. "But you always have to win your home games, especially on opening weekend."
