Rob Gross

With Cornell returning nearly every player from this year's undefeated squad, you would have to be crazy not to pick the Big Red to repeat as champions. Call me crazy, or call me partial, but Penn will win the Ivy League next season. The Quakers finished the season with six Ivy League losses; to contend for the title next year, that number will probably have to fall to no more than one.

Coach Glen Miller said that, at Penn, "it's first place or last place." But with two straight wins to close the season, the Quakers at least avoided their first losing Ivy campaign in 17 years. After losing a heartbreaker to Cornell, Penn defeated both Columbia and Princeton to finish with an 8-6 league record, good enough to stand alone in third place.

This time last year, basketball was the furthest thing from Porter Braswell's mind. He was too busy exploring the Serengeti and throwing spears with Masai warriors. Braswell, a freshman guard at Yale, spent just over two weeks of his senior year at The Lawrenceville School on a trip to Tanzania.

One telling sign of a veteran team is an ability to put together a complete game - 40 minutes of solid play in all phases, offensive and defensive. The youth of the Penn men's basketball team is no secret, and it has most often manifested itself away from the Palestra.

BOSTON - After two straight blowout victories, it finally looked like the Quakers were beginning to find their groove. Then, they went to Boston. Thanks to a first-half offensive outburst, Harvard stopped Penn 89-79 Saturday night. Coming in, the Quakers were still very much a factor in the Ivy League race.

When Penn hosted Harvard earlier this season, Brian Grandieri rescued his team from defeat by scoring a clutch four points in the final minutes. But the lasting memory from Penn's 73-69 victory was not Grandieri's heroics. Instead, it was the first half tussle between Penn's Justin Reilly and Harvard's Evan Harris that led to Reilly's exit with a gash in his head.

Down one at halftime, Penn coach Glen Miller talked about the need to come out strong in the second half. But three quick Yale layups after the break had Penn reeling, and it looked like the Quakers could fall below .500 in the Ivy League for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

The stats didn't support the outcome tonight. Penn shot 38.6 percent from the field and Princeton shot 50 percent. Penn converted 17 baskets and Princeton had 24. Penn scored 20 points in the paint and Princeton had 42. Yet the Quakers still won. Princeton had a distinct advantage in almost every offensive number but one - free-throw shooting.

NEW YORK - Though Penn entered this weekend atop the Ivy League, two close victories at the Palestra against the teams who currently share last place in the standings had proved little. The first tough tests of the conference season came this weekend as the Quakers hit the road to battle New York's two Ancient Eight squads.

ITHACA, N.Y. - Saturday night may have marked a change in the Ivy League guard. In front of a raucous Newman Center crowd, Cornell defeated Penn 87-74 and took a stranglehold on the early championship race. Cornell's victory effectively knocked the Quakers (7-14, 2-2 Ivy League) off their pedestal as the league's dominant team and propelled the Big Red (14-5, 6-0) to that perch.