Ivy League Basketball: Preseason rankings for 2018-19

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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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 11: The Pennsylvania Quakers men’s basketball team hold up the championship trophy after winning the Men’s Ivy League Championship Tournament at The Palestra on March 11, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Penn defeated Harvard 68-65. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

Ivy League Basketball was unpredictable last season, all the way with Penn taking the solo bid to the Big Dance. Who’re the favorites heading into 2018-19?

In the last decade of Ivy League Basketball, there have been three programs – Harvard, Yale, and Princeton that have dominated the league. They were the top teams in the inaugural Ivy League Conference Tournament, with the Tigers going unbeaten in the field.

The trio was the favorites once again last season but there was a party crasher with the Penn Quakers. Although they returned most of their roster from the season prior, few expected Steve Donahue’s team to go 24-9 overall and tie Harvard for first place in the Ivy with a 12-2 conference record.

Those two along with Yale easily made the top-4 to make the tournament but the last spot was up for grabs. Even after what ended up being a down year for Princeton, the expectations were that they still would’ve found a way to crack the top half. In the end, it was Cornell who made the surprising leap to grab the final spot.

Harvard and Penn duked it out in the title game to going dancing, with the Quakers getting the final win. As a 16-seed, they put up a tough fight with Kansas for 25 minutes before losing 76-60.

Penn will return some key pieces for the 2018-19 season but the same is said about the rest of the league, whose top players will now become upperclassmen. The quality of play in the Ivy should go up a level based on the returning scorers and should give multiple teams a true chance at competing for the conference crown.

So who should be the favorite in the Ivy League for the 2018-19 season? Find out now as we rank each team from 8-1.