The old saying goes that there’s a reason why we play the games, and that they’re not played on paper. Preseason predictions might give a casual observer an idea of what to watch for, but ultimately they mean basically nothing to the end result. I wouldn’t call them completely worthless if only because when a team is picked to win, they have a target on their backs and everyone goes just a little harder when playing them. But you get the idea.
For 2018-19, the Ivy League is shaping up as Exhibit A of that in the early going, as Friday night showed. We also saw just how good one team can be.
Even before the fun Friday-Saturday weekends of Ivy League play got going this weekend, the league was looking a bit different than expected with Penn, one of the preseason favorites, dropping both of their rivalry games against Princeton. On Friday, the Quakers fell to 0-3 as they lost 80-71 at Cornell, who is now 2-1 and will play for first place on Saturday night. While the Quakers got a great effort from A.J. Brodeur with 17 points and 16 rebounds along with five assists, they let Matt Morgan get going for 25 points and gave the ball away 19 times, which negated a 46-32 rebounding edge.
Princeton is the lone undefeated team, knocking off Columbia 55-43 in New York on Friday night. Add that to Harvard winning round one with Yale by a 65-49 margin, and you have two more teams right behind the Tigers at 2-1 along with the Big Red.
Harvard now has Bryce Aiken healthy, and that can make a big difference. He didn’t look like a star on Friday night with just five points on 2-8 shooting and two assists with three turnovers, but he will boost this team and draw defensive attention to open up chances for the likes of Chris Lewis and Justin Bassey among others, while Lewis will hold down the fort as a rim protector at the other end. The Crimson are also well-tested.
It was easy to think the league might be a two-horse race (Harvard and Penn) before the season since each returned most of their team from a year ago after reaching the league title game. Harvard had Aiken for just 14 games as well. Yale was quietly right there as well, and their strong non-league showing this year reminded observers that they should be in the mix. The relative surprises are Princeton, who has bounced back nicely from not making the league tournament last season, and Cornell, who was the last team to make it and returned Matt Morgan among others.
It’s very early yet, but right now the teams to watch in the race for the top are Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Cornell. A lot can change in a couple of nights, especially when a team is at home, and we’ve already seen how things can turn out a little different than expected.
Side Dishes
The big news of the day did not involve game action, but for the second time this week, an NCAA decision. This time, it was Kansas forward Silvio De Sousa being declared ineligible for this season and all of next season. In October, former Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola testified that De Sousa’s guardian received a payment of $2500, which Silvio knew nothing about, but the NCAA’s statement said he should have known – which is frankly absurd. There is more on this story here, and from a basketball perspective, in theory this does not hurt Kansas as much it might seem. The Jayhawks have held him out all season, so they are used to playing without him already. That’s not to say he would not boost them, much like he did last season when he became eligible during the season, but the Jayhawks did not lose someone who has started and played significant minutes every game up to this point. Nonetheless, a challenging season for a team that some pegged as the number one team before the season has become a little more challenging.
Another off-court item is that Canisius suspended Isaiah Reese indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team. Head coach Reggie Witherspoon announced the suspension before the Golden Griffins’ 75-70 win over Quinnipiac, during which Reese was not on the bench with the team. Reese also sat for all but about the first eight minutes of their loss to Niagara a couple of nights earlier for what Witherspoon told reporters was an “in-house issue”. Reese was the preseason MAAC Player of the Year, but has had an underwhelming season to this point after declaring for the NBA Draft last year before returning.
On the court, the biggest surprises came with teams losing on the road. Iowa took care of Michigan 74-59 in Iowa City to continue their recent dominance against the Wolverines on their homecourt, while Bowling Green is your MAC leader after they used a big second half to edge Buffalo 92-88. Now, if the Bulls don’t win the MAC Tournament, they will be an interesting test for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. Barring a total collapse, the Bulls should be in, especially when you consider the Pac-12 and Atlantic 10 should be one-bid leagues, the West Coast Conference has settled into being two only if someone beats Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament, and the Big East isn’t looking like a six- or seven-bid league like a year ago.
Also in the Big Ten, Maryland had a fine first half and a five-point lead to show for it at halftime in Madison. But Wisconsin slowed the Terrapins in the second half and then got going at the offensive end to grab the lead and hang on for a 69-61 win, turning the ball over just four times all game.
The one Atlantic 10 game on tap was a good one, with St. Bonaventure starting slowly before taking a halftime lead in Olean, then Davidson took over with eight unanswered points as part of a 14-2 run en route to a 75-66 win over the Bonnies. Kellan Grady had 29 points on 10-17 shooting (5-9 from deep) to lead the Wildcats, who are tied with George Mason atop the conference at 7-1.
Tonight’s Menu
- One game that will grab attention is a non-conference game as Duke hosts St. John’s (noon)
- The ACC has a busy slate that starts with an especially good one as Virginia Tech visits NC State (noon), while Florida State hosts Georgia Tech at the same time. Later, Louisville hosts North Carolina (2 p.m.), Pittsburgh hosts Syracuse in an old Big East matchup (6 p.m.)
- The Atlantic 10 slate features a big game with Dayton hosting Duquesne (2 p.m.), and later on, old rivals meet as VCU hosts George Mason (6:30 p.m.)
- A key matchup between two teams chasing conference leader Lipscomb is on tap in the Atlantic Sun as NJIT visits Liberty (7 p.m.)
- In Big East action, Seton Hall goes to Butler (noon) and Providence has a crucial game at DePaul (2:30 p.m.)
- The Big 12 slate gets underway with a matchup of two teams needing a win as West Virginia hosts Oklahoma (noon), then Iowa State hosts Texas (2 p.m.), Kansas hosts Texas Tech in a big one (4 p.m.), Kansas State takes their five-game conference winning streak to Oklahoma State (6 p.m.) and Baylor tries to stay hot as they host TCU (8 p.m.)
- There’s a key game in the Big South as Radford tries to avenge their first conference loss in a trip to Winthrop (2 p.m.)
- In the Big Ten, Ohio State tries to get going again as Rutgers visits (noon), then Nebraska tries to stop their losing streak at Illinois (2:15 p.m.), Indiana has a big challenge if they want to snap their losing streak as they go to Michigan State (6 p.m.)
- Hofstra takes their 16-game winning streak to Boston to visit Northeastern in an important CAA game (4:30 p.m.)
- There’s a key matchup in the MEAC as Florida A&M takes their 5-2 conference mark into a visit from undefeated North Carolina A&T (6 p.m.)
- A late game in the Missouri Valley should be a good one as Illinois State hosts Loyola-Chicago (10 p.m.)
- In the Mountain West, Boise State is the latest team to take a crack at Nevada, with this one in Reno (6 p.m.)
- A showdown in the Patriot League is on tap as Army hosts Lehigh (1 p.m.)
- In the Ohio Valley Conference, Jacksonville State hosts an Austin Peay team that is just a game behind them (5 p.m.)
- The Pac-12 gets going with UCLA at Washington (4 p.m.), then Utah hosts Oregon State (5 p.m.), Colorado hosts Oregon (9:30 p.m.)
- In the SEC, a rivalry game is on tap as Ole Miss hosts Mississippi State (3:30 p.m.), then Florida hosts a hot Kentucky team (4 p.m.), LSU hosts Arkansas (6 p.m.), Tennessee travels to Texas A&M (8 p.m.) and a big rivalry game tips at the same time with Auburn hosting Alabama.
- The Sun Belt has a showdown that doubles as a rivalry game as Georgia State hosts Georgia Southern (1 p.m.), and another key matchup of in-state rivals later on is UT Arlington visiting Texas State (5 p.m.)
- A good late game is on tap between two 6-1 teams in the WAC, where CSU Bakersfield hosts Grand Canyon (10 p.m.)
- The West Coast Conference has a good northern California matchup on tap as Saint Mary’s hosts San Francisco (4 p.m.), and later on Gonzaga hosts San Diego (8 p.m.)
