1) What does Princeton have in common with Indiana, Maryland, Stanford, Texas Tech and Arkansas? According to the San Francisco Chronicle, they're all "esteemed basketball programs" that might finish last in their conferences.
2) Basketball players have always been some of the most obvious BMOCs on campus here at Penn. And even though he's only a sophomore, Tyler Bernadini has been selected by Comcast SportsNet as Penn's representative for their "Big Men on Campus" series.
3) ESPN The Magazine has come up with one stat for each Division I team that best represents both last year and future results. (Unfortunately, the link requires a subscription to ESPN Insider).
Here is Penn's, with the rest of the league after the jump. The team's are ranked in order of predicted finish.
2 ) Penn
74.5
The Quakers are coming off of their first losing season since 2000-01, but led by Ivy ROY Tyler Bernardini, they're well-stocked to challenge Cornell ... if they D up. Penn gave up 74.5 ppg last season, its worst performance in 20 years.
1 ) Cornell
75
Cornell feasted on foes that it held below 75 points last season, going 17-0 when it did. And with three returning double-digit scorers--unusual depth for an Ivy team--it will once again take a big scoring night to knock off the Big Red.
3 ) Harvard
5
Harvard went 8-22 last year, including 3-11 in league games. Benefit of the doubt, it was a transition period for first-year coach Tommy Amaker. This one should be smoother, as all five starters return, including G Jeremy Lin (12.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.6 apg). Time to see how many of Amaker's lessons have sunk in.
4 ) Yale
46
Yale has been .500 or better in conference play for eight straight seasons. With four new starters, that streak could be in danger. Defense could still save the day, though. The Bulldogs were 11-1 when they held opponents to less than 46% from the field, just 2-14 when they didn't.
5 ) Brown
6, 4
Chris Skrelja, a 6'6'' forward, was one of 10 players in D1 to average more than six boards and four dishes. The Bears will lean on that unselfish, all-around game a bit more as they try to replace a pair of 15 ppg guards (Mark McAndrew and Damon Huffman).
6 ) Princeton
23
Before last season, the Tigers had had only two 10-game losing streaks in their 108-year history. But after a 2-0 start, they dropped a school-record 12 in a row, then later lost nine more. Setting the school mark for losses (23) was no way for Sydney Johnson to begin a long tenure as coach.
7 ) Dartmouth
12
How special is senior F Alex Barnett? Not only was he second-team All-Ivy on a crew that went 3-11 in conference, but he was also one of 12 D1ers to average more than 15 points, seven boards, one steal and one block. He's going to need to do even better than that. No other returning player scored 200 points last year.
8 ) Columbia
48
The Lions lost four starters from a 14-15 team, but if that means senior guard K.J. Matsui (7.2 ppg) will get more looks, then fine: Matsui nailed 49% of his threes, sixth best in the country. Then again, 102 of his 124 tries came from downtown. He has to put the ball on the deck to keep defenders honest.
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