In one of the biggest surprises of Championship Week, the Yale Bulldogs did not win Ivy Madness. Those of you not familiar with Ivy League basketball: the Ivy League tournament is a four-team tournament between the 4 best teams in the league, and it always takes place on the Saturday and Sunday of Championship week. Yale had dominated the league and the regular season this year, but was defeated by the Pennsylvania Quakers in the finals.
Penn is coached by Fran McCaffery, who is now taking his fifth team to the NCAA Tournament. The Quakers got the job done in year 1 of the McCaffrey era. It is Penn's first appearance since 2018 and the 25th overall appearance for one of the Ivy League's historic programs. Coach McCaffrey has guided his team to a 14 seed in year one and has them as a sneaky upset pick this year.
Two Stars
The Quakers ran a very typical Coach McCaffrey style. Play fast, take good shots, and defense is optional. The take good shots part is where we are going to focus our full attention, because Penn has two of the best shot-makers in all of basketball. These two players are among the main reasons Penn has a chance to pull the upset from the 14-line.Â
Let’s start with TJ Power. Power is an elite scorer who can let it fly from the three-point line, where he is shooting over 44%. The forward scored 44 points in the upset win over Yale in the Ivy Madness final. The forward tends to get rolling, and when he does, he is very hard to stop. However, he is only a 65% free-throw shooter, so that may be the place to try to slow him down a little.
Ethan Roberts is the other star for the Quakers, and he is just as good, if not better than Power. Roberts is a great shooter at 40% from deep, and while he is the definition of a volume shooter, he isn’t very efficient. Roberts makes up for that at the line, where he shoots 80%. Roberts is currently battling a concussion, but is going to try to give it a go in the first round.
Power is also a great rebounder; both guys can pass, and both can change a game on the offensive end of the floor. Coach McCaffrey is a genius on the offensive end of the floor, and these two forwards are players he has typically turned into long-tenured NBA Players.
Ivy Upsets
Nothing is handed to you in the Postseason; teams have to play well to take a game and advance. Well, that is what has happened in 2 out of the last 3 NCAA Tournaments for the Ivy League. It started in the 2023 tournament when Princeton beat Arizona and Missouri to advance to the Sweet 16 from the 15 line. Then in 2024, Yale beat Auburn in the first round.Â
Penn has beaten teams in the NCAA Tournament before; it has been a while, but outside of Princeton, the Quakers have the most history. This could be another year that the Ivy League is primed to take down a power school. Roberts and Power are good enough to play for anyone in the tournament, and Coach McCaffrey’s offenses are already hard enough to stop with a week to prepare. Given that teams have only a few days to watch the film and get their teams ready, it could be prime time for an upset. Â
Always remember that just because the conference is small doesn’t mean it isn't capable. Do I think Penn makes a deep run? They can absolutely get to the second round, and then, if things fall into place, the second weekend. Coach McCaffrey has never been to the second weekend, and it would be fitting if he did make it with an Ivy League school after fizzling out at a Big Ten school.
Role Players
Teams that pull off the upset are always going to need their role players to step up. The stars cannot do it on their own, and the role players need the stars to do what they do. Like the saying goes, “teamwork makes the dream work.” In the specific case of the Quakers, their role players are currently playing at another level and need to continue it.
Point guard AJ Levine is one of the fastest players in the tournament and is a pass-first point guard who can also rack up steals and get the Quakers out in transition. His ability to run the offense, get clutch baskets in the paint, and play defense makes him the ultimate glue guy. Cam Thrower is a three-point specialist who doesn’t take a ton of shots, but when he does, they are usually from deep. Â
Every good team needs a supporting cast to score and keep the defense honest. That player for Penn is Michael Zanoni, an efficient scorer and an excellent shooter from deep. The Quakers have a ton of weapons and play and look just like a vintage Fran McCaffrey team. If Penn can get hot from deep and play anything that resembles defense, they can pull off the upset and just may do that. It is one I am strongly considering picking.