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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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 10: The ball bounces off the rim during the Michigan State Spartans and Minnesota Golden Gophers game during the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Verizon Center on March 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

8. Dartmouth Big Green

2017-18 season record: 7-20 (3-11)

Things were supposed to be different last season for Dartmouth, returning just about everyone from the year before. But disaster struck for the program with leading scorer and rebounder Evan Boudreaux sitting out the season in order to transfer to Purdue.

That was the fatal blow to the team, with the Big Green finishing last once again in the Ivy League. It also didn’t help that another double-digit scorer in Guilien Smith played just three games before going down with an injury himself.

As far as this season goes, there’s little optimism for the team to get out the cellar. They’re the only team who loses their two top scorers in the conference in Miles Wright and Taylor Johnson, who combined for 24.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 4.1 apg last year. No one returning scored more than 10 ppg or 4.7 rpg, meaning that the 299th ranked scoring offense could go even lower.

But don’t expect Dartmouth to be a complete pushover, led by Brendan Barry. The junior point guard was one of the best passers in the Ivy, dishing out 3.9 apg. Chris Knight averaged 10.1 ppg as a freshman surprise and as mentioned Smith will be 100% this time around.

There are no seniors on the roster for the Big Green, so in many ways, this is a rebuilding year. With a bunch of seniors elsewhere in the Ivy, the program could eventually make a jump up the conference ladder – just not this season.