Close games will prove to be deciding factor

“It was an Ivy League game—right down to the wire,” head coach Kyle Smith said after the men’s basketball team lost to Penn by two on Friday night. He was right—it was a quintessential Ivy League game.

Of the five Ivy games that were played this weekend, only one was decided by double digits. Three were decided by four points or fewer and the average margin of victory was six. In a league that’s as competitive as it’s been in a while, close games are going to be the norm this year.

For example, Yale, which is expected to finish second in the league, just narrowly edged out a 5-12 Brown team. The Bulldogs trailed by seven at the half, but managed to come back and win by four.  Before the Tigers narrowly defeated Columbia on Saturday, they were upset by a struggling Cornell, 67-59. In the game against the Big Red there were 18 lead changes in just the first half!
Because the Ancient Eight doesn’t have a league playoff, every conference game is incredibly important—and that is especially true this season. With little separating the teams in terms of talent, every game is a must win.

There are exceptions of course—Harvard is significantly more talented than Dartmouth, for example. But even the Big Green trailed the Crimson by just one point at the half when they faced off on Jan. 8. Of course, Harvard ended up winning by a healthy margin, but games like this are examples of how easy it is for upsets to occur in the Ivy League. Even though Harvard is nationally ranked and expected to run the table in conference play, the Crimson isn’t immune to an upset at the hand of an Ivy foe.

The parity in the league means that it’s crucial for teams to win close games. The Light Blue’s two tight losses this weekend could end up the difference between a third-and fifth-place finish. The defeats could especially hurt the Lions’ stance in the conference since they came against Princeton and Penn, two teams that will be fighting to keep Columbia out of the top half.

Coming into the weekend, it seemed that Penn, Princeton, and Columbia would be fighting for third and fourth place (behind Harvard and Yale), with Cornell trailing slightly behind the trio. All of that changed this weekend, when the Big Red sent a message to the rest of the league by defeating the reigning-champion Tigers 67-59 on Friday.

That same night, Penn and Columbia fought to the final buzzer with the Quakers emerging victorious. Penn went on to beat the Big Red on Saturday, indicating that Cornell’s win the night before might have been a fluke. The Tigers bounced back against the Lions on Saturday with a second-half comeback, winning 62-58.

So where does that leave us? Penn, Harvard, and Yale are in a three-way tie for first, Princeton and Cornell are tied for fourth, and Columbia, Brown, and Dartmouth are all in sixth place. Does this mean anything? No, not really.

I know I said that the Big Red upset predictions by beating Princeton and that Columbia’s losses this weekend were crucial—and they may still turn out to be—but it is still way too early to tell what the hell is going to happen in the league this year. I spend what many would consider an unhealthy amount of time analyzing Ivy League basketball, and I really have no idea what the final standings will look like. Harvard will still probably come in first and Dartmouth will still probably come in last, but how the middle will look is anyone’s guess. The Lions could go on a winning streak, starting with Cornell this weekend, that propels them into the top half of the league. The Crimson could have an off night and lose to Yale or Brown. Dartmouth could surprise the Bears and steal a road win.

So for those of you that were disappointed by Columbia’s two tough losses last weekend, keep watching. For one thing, almost every game the Light Blue plays promises to be entertaining, even when the team doesn’t win. The more important thing, though, is that the Ivy League is more volatile than ever, and you’ll never know what will happen when two teams take to the court.

Michele Cleary is a Columbia College senior majoring in history. She is a former Spectator managing editor.
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