Ivy League Basketball power rankings: Close battle at top between Yale and Harvard

8. Columbia

Record: 6-20 (1-9 Ivy League)

The Columbia Lions are the perfect example of an NCAA Basketball team that has a great star player and not much depth to accompany him. That star player is Mike Smith. Averaging 22.2 ppg, Smith ranks 8th in the country in scoring.  It is rather unfortunate that Columbia is in the situation they are in because Smith truly deserves some publicity on the national level.

Outside of Smith, the depth is just not there for the Lions. They have lots of trouble finding other guys that can threaten on offense. This lack of depth is the main reason why they are currently on a nine game losing streak, with only one win in Ivy League play.

Columbia will not be a team that can cause problems for any of those ranked above them in the league. For them, the last few games are about producing something positive by hanging tough in games and performing better than they have been.

7. Cornell

Record: 6-17 (3-7 Ivy League)

Cornell has not had many good things to look to throughout conference play this year. With only two Ivy League wins heading into last Saturday, it seemed questionable as to whether or not Cornell would win again.  On Saturday, they looked like a great basketball team. They took out a better Brown squad pretty handily, 63-45, behind Junior guard Bryan Knapp’s 17 points.

This Cornell team is in a better situation than Columbia. They have more talent all around and have proven that they are capable of beating teams that are above them in the Ivy League Basketball standings. They already beat Princeton early on in conference play, and they will have a chance to do it again at the end of the season.

With the last few games coming up, Cornell is capable of making some things interesting, but, with only four teams qualifying for the Ivy League Basketball Tournament, I am afraid it is too late for them to make a huge jump in the standings.