Penn's game against Drexel may have been featured on ESPN this week, but the Ivy League hasn't been turning any heads thus far: Ancient Eight squads have gone just 4-12 to open the men's basketball season.
That said, they looked more than respectable against some quality opponents in their season openers.
In its first game under new coach Jesse Agel, Brown - hardly the conference's best team - lost to Rhode Island by two points and were even leading the contest at halftime.
An Eric Flato-less Yale fell by just eight to Stanford, which wiped the floor with Cornell in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament (although in fairness to Cornell, former Cardinal players Brook and Robin Lopez are now in the NBA).
And Princeton, pegged by a preseason media poll as the worst team in the Ivy League, lost, 55-53, to Central Michigan, an above-average Ivy-caliber squad.
On the other hand, Brown was also blown out by 37 at George Mason, Yale was decimated, 89-58, at Vermont and Dartmouth downed by 18 against Providence.
So much for first impressions.
Going downtown . Other Ivy teams may have hoped that the NCAA's moving of the men's three-point line back a foot (to 20 feet, nine inches) would take away Cornell's edge in three-point shooting and force it to go inside.
Too bad for them, because the Big Red haven't missed a beat yet. Through their first two games, they've gone 19-of-47 from long distance, good for a 40.4 percent clip. That's just a hair under the team's 40.9-percent shooting last season.
To make matters worse for the seven teams chasing Cornell, their three-point shooting has for the most part deteriorated. Brown, second in the conference last season at 40.8 percent, has shot just 16-of-50 (32 percent). Yale was third at 34.4 percent last season; this year, only a pitiful 26.9 percent have gone down. And Columbia, at just 4-for-30 this year, has significantly deteriorated from the team that was fourth in the Ivy League at 33.2 percent.
In fact, the only teams that have improved their downtown stroke have been Princeton and Dartmouth, which were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the conference last season.
And only the Big Green have noticeably shot better, going from 32 to 37 percent over their first two games.
It's still early, but it's hard to deny that the Ivy League - like the rest of the NCAA - has yet to adjust to the new line.
Katz's Darkhorse. Just about anyone who follows Ivy League basketball is picking Cornell to repeat as Ivy League champs - except for ESPN college basketball analyst Andy Katz.
During the halftime show of Tuesday's Penn-Drexel matchup, Katz said that he was impressed by how close Yale - which came in third in the preseason media poll - was able to play Stanford. And when the ESPN screen changed to show its commentators picks to win the Ivy League, Katz's box had a Bulldog in it.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.