Princeton Basketball: Previewing the Tigers’ season and Ivy League hopes

After a perfect season in the Ivy League, Princeton basketball has the target squared on their backs. Do the Tigers have enough to remain on top?

There are usually two groups in the Ivy League: the top three (Harvard, Yale, and Princeton) and the rest of the league. Last year was an exception as Princeton was all by themselves at the top of the conference.

The Mitch Henderson-led team went 9-6 in the non-conference, including losses to teams such as BYU, VCU, and California. The non-conference slate is supposed to prepare teams for conference play, and clearly, it worked for the Tigers.

Princeton went undefeated not only in the regular season but won the inaugural Ivy League conference tournament as well. It probably was the preferred result for basketball officials in the league as the Ivy was the last holdout for a conference tournament.

In previous seasons, Princeton would’ve just gotten the automatic bid by being the regular season champs, so a loss in the tournament would’ve been added ammunition for those who believe that the champions in the regular season should go to the Big Dance.

Princeton’s season ended with a first-round loss to Notre Dame. It was still a historic season for the program, as they will always be the first-ever conference tournament champs in the Ivy League

When it comes to this upcoming year, the Tigers will be without five of the eight rotation players from last year, including the leading scorer Steven Cook and conference Player of the Year Spencer Weisz. However, the players that remain are more than enough to keep Princeton in the Ivy League title conversation this season.