Ivy League Basketball: Predicting the standings for the 2017-18 season

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 12: The Princeton Tigers hoist the championship trophy after the win against the Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League tournament final at The Palestra on March 12, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Princeton won 71-59. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

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LEXINGTON, KY – MARCH 15: A fan of Pennsylvania Quakers smiles during their game gainst the Texas A /

5. Penn Quakers

2016-17 result: 13-15 (6-8) – No postseason

Coach Steve Donahue enters his third year with the program. The school was the fourth team to be part of history last year in the inaugural event and has a good chance of getting back to it.

After a terrific freshman season from AJ Brodeur, Penn seems to have their foundational piece for the next few years. He was second-team All-Ivy and had multiple 30 points games last year. He’ll be joined by fellow sophomore Ryan Bentley in their quest to remain in the top half.

Even though with they made it with a 6-8 record in conference play last year, that’s unlikely to be the case this year. Most of the teams at the bottom are improved, so the wins may have to come against the top three. Penn is relatively young and their chances might not be as good as the others in terms of pulling off a big upset.

The good news for the program is that similarly to Cornell, most of the players will be back for next season. With Princeton and Yale having multiple seniors on the team, the time for the bottom teams might be arriving sooner than expected. For now, Penn will still try to crack the top four even though the urgency isn’t there yet.