Penn basketball memories: The '99 Princeton rivalry

Nine days to tip-off and we've got a great account of the 1998-99 season, in which Penn split the series with Princeton (remember: blame Wharton) but took the Ivy title and cut down the nets on the Tigers' home court.

Your favorite Penn basketball memory?

Freshman year we spent 3 days on the Line with a few hundred of our newest friends. Princeton had just finished one of its greatest seasons ever (a 5-seed in the NCAA tourney), but lost many of its stars to graduation. The feeling was palpable that the Quakers might return to glory for the first time since Princeton had become the media's darling in 1996.

The year started at home against Kansas, a game we should have won, followed quickly by a victory over #6 Temple. By the time the Princeton game finally rolled around, we were undefeated in Ivy League play and knew that this team was good enough to win a tourney game or two.

It was a cold February night when we packed into the Palestra, but that didn't deter a massive turnout. We wanted revenge. The stands were absolutely jammed--except for huge chunks of the student section. Who would miss the opening tip of this long-awaited game? Inexplicably, one of the classes required of all Wharton freshmen chose that February night to hold its first midterm of the semester.

And so the Wharton freshmen missed one of the greatest halves in Penn basketball history. Our Quakers couldn't miss, just as the Tigers couldn't buy a bucket. After Brian Earl (he of the infamous student chant, "Brian Earl loves the back door") drained a 3-pointer to open the game, Penn scored the next 29 points. Much to the chagrin of the superstitious among us, the student section began to chant, "You have 3 points." The halftime score was 33-9. There was much rejoicing.

That's when the Wharton freshmen arrived.

It was all downhill from there. I try not to think about it much. As the lead evaporated, we became frantic. Princeton took the lead 50-49 with just over 2 minutes to go. No one scored another point.

When the game was over, we just sat in the stands. Some cried. We knew we were witnesses to college basketball history, and we didn't like it. We vowed revenge.

And there was much sweet, sweet redemption 3 weeks later when we whipped Princeton by 25, and I danced on the floor of Jadwin Gym while Michael Jordan cut down the Princeton nets.

For any generation of Penn freshmen, there might never have been a better year to learn to hate the Tigers than 1998.

Many older alumni hold fast their hatred of Villanova, and Harvard may be the team to beat this season, but for me, any season is a good season when we whip Princeton twice.

-Ben Koch, College '02