Mano-A-Mano: Sizing up Harvard's true competition in Ivy play

Ivy weekends are on the horizon, and Harvard is the overwhelming favorite to win the Ancient Eight. But is there a challenger to the Crimson standing in the distance? Our sports editors debate:

Sports Editor Ian Wenik: First off, let’s be realistic: Penn has no chance. Instead, I think the team with the best chance to take down Tommy Amaker and Harvard is the same team that lost to Penn back on Jan. 11: Princeton. Though the loss to the Quakers may be crippling, I think that the Tigers have the best shot of any other team in the conference, just from looking at their entire body of work.

This is a team that has multiple road victories over high-major schools (Rutgers, Penn State) and one of the top scorers in the Ancient Eight with senior guard T.J. Bray (17.4 points per game). If anyone has the firepower to score with the Crimson, it’s Mitch Henderson’s team.

Sports Editor Riley Steele: Ian, I agree with you on one thing: Penn certainly has no chance to win the Ancient Eight this season. While I think a lot of the praise being given to Princeton and Harvard is deserved, the fact that everyone is trying to make the Ivy League a two-horse race is a mistake. The Tigers are a fine contender, but how can anyone overlook what Kyle Smith and Columbia are doing right now?

Sure, the Lions have dropped a few games to teams they probably should have beaten, including a one-point setback to Manhattan back in November, but four of Columbia’s six losses were by less than six points. And while wins over Rutgers and Penn State may be impressive for Princeton, I’ll take what Columbia did against Michigan State any day.

The Lions pushed the Spartans to the brink in East Lansing before letting a three-point lead slip away with seven minutes remaining. Regardless, this team is the real deal.

IW: I watched that Michigan State game, and as impressed as I was with how the Lions were able to hang with Keith Appling and company all game, I was just as disappointed with their lack of late-game poise in that contest. You’re talking about a team that got fooled by the student section into committing a shot-clock violation in a critical situation not once, but twice. They simply folded down the stretch in that game.

Who’s to say that Columbia won’t collapse like that at Harvard? Or Princeton? Smith has done a fantastic job revitalizing that program, but I don’t think the Lions are ready for the big time just yet.

RS: Sure, the Lions may have been rattled by a raucous Breslin Center crowd, but I’ve seen teams far stronger than Columbia falter in just the same way in that enviornment. In addition to what the Lions did in the nonconference season, I believe they can make a push against Harvard for three reasons.

First, not only did Columbia beat the Crimson last year, by 15 no less, they easily could have swept the Ivy champs. They seem poised to do the same this year, and Levien Gym will be rocking when Harvard visits on Valentine’s Day.

Also, the Lions possess three of the Ivy League’s top-ten scorers in two-time Ivy player of the week Alex Rosenberg and sophomore guards Grant Mullins and Maodo Lo. No other Ancient Eight squad has more than two scorers in the top ten.

Most importantly, Columbia has won five straight contests and are about to make it six straight against Cornell this weekend. This team knows it can win games, and with that kind of momentum, the Lions will hit the ground running against the rest of their conference opponents.

Verdict: We have to give this one to Riley. Princeton’s loss to Penn exposed what happens when someone shuts down the Tigers from three-point range, and Columbia has shown promise in late game situations since the Michigan State loss.