YALE at PRINCETON, 7:00 PM Eastern, No TV
The final day of February. March Madness will be upon us very shortly. As we head into the the weekend that will bring us the end of the regular seasons in 13 conferences, the first conference tournament bracket pairings announced, and preparations beginning for the start of two weeks of great games as we playoff to get 31 conference tournament champions, the SCGD will be heading to the one conference that does not have a tournament tonight, the Ivy League.
Heading into tonight’s action, Harvard holds a one game lead over Yale. If Harvard wins both their games this weekend (at home tonight to Cornell and tomorrow night to Columbia) while Yale loses tonight at Princeton and tomorrow night at Penn, the Crimson will lock up their third straight automatic bid from the Ivy. If Harvard does not clinch this weekend, a huge showdown looms next Friday night when they travel to New Haven, CT for a rematch of the game won by the Bulldogs at Harvard earlier this season.
Tonight’s featured game is Yale’s road test at Princeton. In order for Yale to have a shot at its first NCAA bid since 1962, the Bulldogs really must sweep their two games this weekend and make next weekend’s contest meaningful. Yale is presently 8-2 in the Ivy (one game behind Harvard’s 9-1), but is coming off a road loss last weekend at Columbia. The trip to Jadwin Gymnasium tonight is by no means a lock for a victory.
Princeton enters tonight’s contest at 15-8 overall, but 6 of those 8 losses have come in Ivy League play (3-6 in conference) meaning the Tigers have already been mathematically eliminated from the conference race. Before Ivy league play began, we had seriously considered Princeton a contender for the league title, especially with a very exciting road win at Penn State on their resume. A loss in their very first Ivy game at Penn began the collapse for the Tigers, who also got swept by Harvard, lost to Dartmouth and Columbia, and fell in their first game against Yale. Princeton still has a shot at a postseason invite to the CBI or CIT, but needs to notch a few more victories before that happens. Starting things off with an upset of Yale tonight would be a step in the right direction.