Athlon Sports' Ivy hoops preview (updated)

Update: Lindy's Sports also picked Penn to finish second behind Cornell. But they give stats of returning players, so you might want to check that out.

Penn still hasn't released its 2008-09 men's basketball schedule yet, but national sports magazines have already started their Ivy League predictions.

Athlon Sports just released its 2008-09 college basketball preview edition, and the magazine has selected Penn to come in second in the Ivy League. Cornell is picked to win it again, although it does mention Adam Gore as a key contributor; clearly that's not going to be the case now that he's out at least four months with an ACL injury.

Sophomore Tyler Bernadini was the only Penn selection on the All-Ivy First Team. Cornell led with two selections, Juniors Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale, who was named Preseason Player of the Year.

Penn's entry states that "the concern is that the strength of the team is in the younger classes, similar to what Cornell had going into last season." It also calls Coach Glen Miller's five freshmen the "league's best" incoming class. And finally, it mentions the return of Darren Smith and Tommy McMahon from injuries.

After the jump, the entire predicted order of finish and All-Ivy First Team.

The entire league's order of finish:

1. Cornell

2. Penn

3. Harvard

4. Brown

5. Yale

6. Princeton

7. Columbia

8. Dartmouth

All-Ivy First Team:

Alex Barnett Sr. F Dartmouth

Tyler Bernadini So. G Penn

Louis Dale* Jr. G Cornell

Chris Skrelja Sr. F Brown

Ryan Wittman Jr. F Cornell

*Player of the Year

At the top of the page, they also have the Ivy's all time NCAA tournament record. It's a mediocre 38-75, (a .336 winning percentage).

(HT Cornell Basketball Blog)