While the Quakers have continued to struggle with nonconference opponents, at least one Ivy League team has shown that it still possesses the ability to hang with the best teams in the country.
After opening its season with a victory over Alabama, Cornell is continuing to draw national attention with solid performances against No. 5 Syracuse and No. 3 Kansas. Having won 13 of its past 14 games, Cornell has climbed skyward in several major NCAA polls.
The Big Red are listed among the nation’s Top 35 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls this week and sit at No. 36 in the current Rating Percentage Index.
Their 15-3 finish in non-conference play ties the 1970-71 Quakers for an Ivy League record — the most nonconference wins in a season.
And don’t expect Cornell to slow down any time soon.
The team enters Ivy League play with a reasonable chance to challenge those 1970-71 Quakers for the most overall victories in a season with 28.
Cornell last finished 14-0 in Ivy play in 2007-08. Though the squad dropped three conference games last season, it was still enough for the Big Red to secure the title.
Led by forward Ryan Wittman and 7-foot center Jeff Foote, who have combined for seven Ivy Player of the Week honors, the Big Red have already gotten off to a fast start in their first League contest Saturday, crushing Columbia, 74-53.
Talk about starting the season off on the right Foote.
Kings of the hill. Although Cornell is predicted to dominate the Ivy League standings, for now it remains in a tie for first with Harvard and Brown.
The Bears defeated Yale, 75-66, Friday in the only other Ivy matchup of the weekend.
Brown (7-11, 1-0 Ivy) was carried by its bench, as both senior Steve Gruber and freshman Andrew McCarthy started the game on the sidelines before leading the team in scoring.
Gruber contributed a career-high 15 points on 3-for-5 shooting from the field and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe.
McCarthey added 14 points and eight rebounds en route to earning Ivy Rookie of the Week honors.
Harvard (12-3, 1-0) may be the biggest obstacle standing in the way of Cornell’s quest for Ivy perfection.
The Crimson, led by standout guard Jeremy Lin, have already shattered several program records with their strong start.
The team’s 74-66 win at Santa Clara set the program record for non-conference victories with 11, surpassing the previous record of nine set in 1958-59.
The Crimson also reached the 10-win mark faster than any other Harvard team in the program’s 99-year history with a 92-71 win at Seattle, Jan. 2.
Following a 76-47 drubbing of Dartmouth Jan. 9 at home, Harvard will embark on the bulk of its 14-game conference schedule when it travels to Hanover, N.H., Saturday for a rematch with the Big Green.
A busy weekend. Ivy League play picks up in earnest this weekend with three major matchups. Yale will travel to Providence, R.I., to take on Brown, Cornell will come to the Big Apple to battle Columbia again and Harvard will head to Hanover to meet the Big Green.
Penn and Princeton both kick off their conference schedules on Friday, Jan. 29 against Yale and Brown, respectively.
February is certain to be an exciting month for the Ancient Eight.
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