Ivy League Basketball isn’t just about Princeton and Penn anymore
Through all of the 90’s and for the early part of the 2000’s, two teams dominated the Ivy League with an iron fist and
they were Princeton and Penn. In fact these two teams have pretty much dominated the conference since it’s inception
in 1933 with Princeton owning 24 titles and Penn 23. Things began to change in 2006 with Cornell winning three of it’s
five overall conference titles. Harvard, which hadn’t won a title in it’s 67 years in the Ivy, then ran off it’s first five (2011-
current) which culminated in an upset of No.3 seed New Mexico in the 2013 NCAA tournament. The tide appears to be
changing once again with Yale and Columbia sitting alone, unbeaten in four games and with solid RPI’s.
This year there are three teams with an actual shot of winning the Ivy League title and the top two square off tonight
at Payne Whitney Gym in New Haven, Connecticut as the Columbia Lions (15-6, 4-0, RPI 124) take on the (13-5, 4-0,
81) Yale Bulldogs. The teams have split their last six games with the last three decided by six points or less. Columbia
is 10-1 in it’s L11. The Lions broke through on this court last year after six straight losses. Yale is 11-2 vs. teams outside
the Top 100 and start four seniors but home faves in the Ivy are just 1-5 to this point after two weeks.
Princeton is the third team of the Ivy trifecta. The Tigers (12-5, 2-1) have the best RPI of the group at No.67. Princeton played
a very tough non-conference schedule and four of their five losses are to teams in the Top 50. The other loss came last week
at Yale and a game that they most certainly need to avenge in the rematch at Jadwin on February 19th. The league’s lone
tournament bid will come down to the results of the round robiin between the big three and with no conference tournament,
a bad night against any of the bottom five (Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown or Penn) could cost you a ticket to the Big Dance.
World Champion Handicapper Jeff Allen is on a light’s out 10-1 small school run in the college hoops that includes last night’s
MAAC Game of the Year winner on Quinnipiac (-3.5), a 26-point blowout winner over Marist. Tonight, Jeff Allen features his Ivy
League Game of the Week plus NBA and the Super Bowl 50 total. Jeff Allen’s low volume and high win percentage approach
has made him an industry icon and Big Play go to guy for more then 30 years. Catch Jeff Allen at his home bases of Free Plays
and VegasScoresAndOdds and don’t miss a single play.