Fans can hate on Nelson-Henry and Louis for their lack of consistency all they want but at the end of the day, they are what keeps Penn from having to go to a frontcourt of only freshmen with sophomore forward Dylan Jones out for the game in street clothes.

The one constant between both Penn men's and women's basketball coming out of the weekend are the growing pains that come with young squads.

If Saturday’s season opener against Delaware State was only 35 minutes long, the conversation about Penn men’s basketball would probably be different.

It sure would have been nice to send off the program’s winningest coach with another victory in his final game at Franklin Field, but Penn football showed a lot to be proud of in its loss to Harvard.

Normally, a 45-point blowout is cause for major concern. But this isn’t most matchups, and as coach Mike McLaughlin and the rest of the team knew going in, this would have to be a game to build off of. 

Although this will also be his last campaign on the Quakers’ sideline, Bagnoli made it perfectly clear before the year started that he never wanted his impending retirement to overshadow what his players did on the field.

Understandably, the team wants to stress the process and not the results this year. That makes perfect sense with a young roster that was projected to finish seventh in the Ancient Eight in the Ivy preseason poll. But there will need to be results this year alongside the all-important process.

Everyone reading this next sentence will hate me but I will say it anyway: When Al Bagnoli announced in April that he would retire after the 2014 season, I immediately thought about Derek Jeter.

The view is different from the top. And it’s been quite a few years since Penn women’s basketball has had that view.

After Penn football’s 21-13 loss to Brown on Saturday, coach Al Bagnoli was not about to make any excuses for the Quakers’ offensive performance. But curiously enough, Brown coach Phil Estes was.

Homecoming has the potential to be great for any school. A ton of alumni (read: possible donors) all in the same place, interacting with your campus and taking in the athletic events you have on tap. But when events unfold like they did for Penn Athletics on Saturday, it is hard to call this rain-soaked Homecoming great for the athletic department.

Seven games into the 2014 season, it's impossible to deny the sense of disappointment surrounding Penn football.

At 1-5 and already beset with two Ivy losses, Penn football is, for all intents and purposes, done in 2014. But believe it or not, there’s still plenty of reason to watch.

Yale accentuated the Quakers’ flaws throughout the game, letting a national TV audience see what has been plaguing the Red and Blue all year.