The opponents may be better at Cornell and Columbia, but pure inconvenience makes Harvard-Dartmouth the toughest Ivy League road trip.
Like every team, Penn will be doing its best to keep bodies fresh and spirits high for the long stretches of travel.
Senior captain Brian Grandieri, who has been on seven roadtrips in his three years of playing, said that each roadtrip presents its own challenges.
"When you go up to Dartmouth second, it think it might be the hardest Ivy League [trip]," Grandieri said, "just because of how far it is."
But Penn will face Dartmouth first tomorrow night, meaning that the bus ride home on Saturday will be the short one - from Boston, not New Hampshire.
The Quakers will be leaving early today and arriving in the Granite State in time for dinner.
"We'll get there, hopefully, at a reasonable time," coach Glen Miller said.
As always, Saturday's game will come with some fatigue, as will Sunday morning. That's the norm in the Ivy League.
"Every weekend for us, really, is at least four hours [per drive] on a bus," Grandieri said. "So if it gets up to six or seven I don't think it's really too much of a bigger difference."
Remy Cofield update. The f0reshman guard did not practice yesterday, and Miller said he did not know how Cofield's foot injury would affect his status for this weekend.
He is "day-to-day," Miller said. "We're still waiting to hear" the extent.
Cofield played 12 minutes in Penn's loss to Brown last Friday but was injured and did not dress for Saturday's game.
"We might know some more [today]," he said.
"Right now for all I know he could see the doctor and be cleared, or he could be putting a cast on," he added, laughing.
Cofield has averaged nine minutes and 2.9 points per game.
Fightin' words. Evan Harris, watch out: The last time Harvard and Penn faced off, Harris nearly earned himself a date with an irate Andreas Schreiber.
The Quakers and Crimson meet again on Saturday, and Harris, Schreiber and Penn's Justin Reilly - also involved in the brief stir-up - will be back on the court together.
But Miller dismissed any thought that the tussles were a sign of toughness or intensity.
"Listen, we would like to play physical, within the rules," he said.
"We just want to get to the foul line and win the battle at the foul line."
High school watch. Incoming freshman Garvin Hunt, a 6-11 center out of Sagemont (22-7) in Florida, broke his ankle in practice on Monday, according to a report in the Miami Herald.
