Ivy League basketball: Penn Quakers are the surprise team in the league
The standings for the Ivy League have turned upside down this season, thanks to a surprise Penn team on top. Will the Quakers remain there for the rest of the way?
Since the beginning of this decade, it’s been either one of three teams that’s been going to the NCAA tournament as the Ivy League‘s representative – Princeton, Harvard and Yale. And for who ever wins, the other two are usually second and third.
The introduction of the conference’s postseason tournament, where the winner would receive the automatic invite to March Madness was both an opportunity and a realization for the other five programs in the league.
Only the top four would participate in this new tournament, and last season the new “big three” locked up the top spots rather easily. The fourth spot went to the University of Penn, who ended up with a losing record in conference play.
Things were expected to be the same this season, with key players for the Crimson, Tigers and Bulldogs all returning. Some of the teams also brought back some good talent, but didn’t have the depth of the heavyweights.
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But between injuries, youth and inconsistent play, Yale, Harvard and Princeton have all lost already in league play. Here’s how the Ivy League standings look as of February 4, 2018.
Penn 15-6 (5-0)
Harvard 10-11 (5-1)
Princeton 11-9 (3-2)
Brown 10-9 (3-3)
Columbia 6-13 (3-3)
Cornell 8-11 (2-4)
Yale 9-13 (2-4)
Dartmouth 4-15 (0-6)
The biggest surprise seeding-wise is Yale, who is dealing with two starters having yet to play this season, including the Preseason Player of the Year in Makai Mason. Still, the Bulldogs are just a game back of the four seed with many games to go.
But the team to talk about are the Quakers at the very top, who already have wins over both Yale and Princeton in league play. This is a very balanced team, with six guys averaging at least 8.5 ppg, five at least 3.7 rpg and four with 2.1 apg. Penn is also a team that can win in a variety of ways, beating Brown in overtime 95-90 before a day later taking out Princeton 59-50.
While the team does have some upperclassmen, two sophomores are the key to this 5-0 start. Ryan Betley leads the Quakers in scoring at 14.8 ppg, while AJ Brodeur, who led the team in scoring last year as a freshman,is second at 11.5 ppg. He’s also the top rebounder in the Ivy at 7.1 rpg, and has the best defensive rating at 92.4.
One thing to take note with the Quakers schedule. All five games played so far have been at home. The next five games, including bouts against Princeton and Harvard, are all on the road. We’re about to find out how real this Penn team is.