Under the Radar Game of the Day: Yale at Princeton, 7:00 PM Eastern, espn3
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Friday nights are generally one of the slowest nights in college basketball, and in terms of the quantity of games tonight is no exception with only a dozen contests on the schedule. However, in terms of Under the Radar games of note, there are several extremely good ones among those dozen, including Akron heading on the road for a huge rivalry matchup at Kent State, Valpo hosting Oakland, and Monmouth hosting the rematch of their very heated earlier game (which they won) against Iona. Although those games may have huge implications on where teams are seeded in their conference tournaments and whether or not they may have a shot at an at-large bid, thee UTR Game of the Day may actually be the game that decides what team wins the Ivy League’s automatic bid.
Yale will be at Princeton tonight in a battle between the top two teams in the Ivy League. Yale enters play tonight at 8-0 in conference play (joining Stephen F Austin as the only teams left in the nation that are undefeated in conference play). They are 17-5 overall with a solid RPI of 57. The Bulldogs’ toughest competition in the conference this season is clearly from Princeton and Columbia, and they have already knocked off both of those teams at home. A win tonight would extend their lead to two games over the Tigers and the Lions and would mean that even if Yale lost at Columbia in a couple of weeks, the Bulldogs would still win the Ivy League and its automatic bid. In other words, someone not named Princeton or Columbia would have to also beat them if they are to be caught this year. Yale is led by Justin Sears who had a double-double in the earlier win at home over Princeton, and is looking to get his team into the Big Dance for the first time since 1962 — and make up for the heartbreak they suffered in the regular season finale (a last second loss at Dartmouth that forced a tie with Harvard) and the one game playoff (a 2 point loss to Harvard) last season.
Princeton currently sits at 6-1 in Ivy League play and 16-5 overall. The Tigers actually have the conference’s best RPI at 45. Although that normally is a number that generates a look for an at-large bid, they only have one win against the top 150 of the RPI (last week at Columbia) and are not seriously on the bubble for a bid. At a minimum, to be “at-large worthy”, the Tigers would have to win out and finish in sole possession of first place. Of course, if that happens, they will have clinched the automatic bid and the discussion would become moot. Princeton is led by Henry Caruso, who had 26 points in the earlier loss at Yale. Also, keep an eye on Pete Miller who had 20 points and 13 rebounds in last weekend’s huge overtime win over Columbia.
One final note about tonight’s game. A win by Yale would mathematically eliminate half of the Ivy League from contention for the top spot and the automatic bid. Harvard, Cornell, Dartmouth and Brown will all be removed from our NCAA Tournament Survival Board (335 teams remain alive entering play tonight!) with a win by Yale, or if they lose their games tonight.