It’s a good time for the Ivy League in the big picture. The league is in the midst of a really good up cycle, and while we’ve said this before, this time around looks even better than the last time.
Simply put, from top to bottom the league looks like it is getting better. Not all teams will equally share in the prosperity, but if you’re a fan of the league, this is a good time. And it should only get better, whether you look at it from a team or individual talent standpoint.
You can easily look at the top and know times are good. Harvard tied for the regular season title with a team full of players who will return, as did Penn. Yale came in third once again without Makai Mason for much of the year, and they are well-prepared for more life without him now that he has graduated and transferred. Princeton had a bad year but is well-coached and still has a lot coming back next year, so the Tigers can’t be discounted at all.
The fourth team that made the league tournament, Cornell, was a pleasant surprise. Behind Matt Morgan, Brian Earl’s team made the league tournament in just his second season at the helm, and they should return most of this team. Columbia and Brown had younger teams this season, with the Bears having the league’s Rookie of the Year, and Dartmouth showed some positive signs in Dave McLaughlin’s second season while wins were hard to come by.
Meanwhile, only one of the 14 All-Ivy members was a senior in 2017-18 – and it was an honorable mention selection. That means all 12 first and second team selections return, which translates into a lot of experience and production around the league.
All of this comes as the league has not won a great deal in non-league play. While Penn won 24 games aided by that, the Quakers were still a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament. But with more experience will come the hope of more non-league wins that will help. The product on the floor in league play will remain excellent, and perhaps a bit less top-heavy, but non-league play is where an NCAA Tournament seeding is formed for the winner of mid-major leagues like the Ivy.
For Penn, it had been a long road back to the top. The Quakers and Princeton have long dominated the Ivy League, but this year marked their first title in 11 years. During that time, Cornell and then Harvard largely ruled the league, with Princeton going down briefly and then returning to power. Steve Donahue, who had been an assistant there prior to becoming the head coach at Cornell, is back in familiar territory in more ways than one and winning once again.
The league’s coaches all remain through this off-season, although one wonders if a seat or two is starting to heat up. While the Ivy League is a little different beast, teams still want to win and get to postseason play, especially the NCAA Tournament.
The Ivy League has been through some cycles that had a lot of promise and some results over the last half-decade or so. Right now it appears to be in the midst of the best of them.
Final Standings
| Harvard | ||
| Penn | ||
| Yale | ||
| Cornell | ||
| Princeton | ||
| Columbia | ||
| Brown | ||
| Dartmouth |
League Tournament
The second Ivy League Tournament, dubbed Ivy Madness, once again saw the host school make it, and this time they had a little more success.
The semifinals were chalk and not very competitive, with No. 1 Harvard coasting to a 74-55 win over No. 4 Cornell behind 24 points and 12 rebounds from Seth Towns and a good shooting afternoon from long range, then No. 2 Penn blowing out No. 3 Yale 80-57. Penn out-rebounded Yale 46-27 and led throughout, running out to an early lead and never being seriously challenged after that.
The championship game was a dandy, as could be expected, and a game of runs. Harvard scored 13 unanswered points to break a 13-13 tie in the early going, but Penn responded with a 21-6 run to close the first half and take a 34-32 lead into the locker room. Tournament Most Outstanding Player A.J. Brodeur scored six points as part of an 11-0 run to open the second half, but Harvard would later go on a 23-7 run to regain the lead before Penn went on their next run. The Quakers went up 66-60, then had to hold off the Crimson with free throws and staving off game-tying shot attempts in a 68-65 win.
Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Seth Towns, Harvard
Rookie of the Year: Desmond Cambridge, Brown
Coach of the Year: Steve Donahue, Penn
Defensive Player of the Year: Amir Bell, Princeton
All-Ivy League Team
A.J. Brodeur, So. F, Penn
Matt Morgan, Jr. G, Cornell
Miye Oni, So. G, Yale
Seth Towns, So. F, Harvard
Chris Lewis, So. C, Harvard
Season Highlights
- Yale finished in the top half of the league for the 18th straight season, which is the length of James Jones’ tenure at the school.
- Cornell guard Matt Morgan was ninth in the nation in scoring.
- Harvard’s Seth Towns became the third sophomore in league history to win Player of the Year, joining Jerome Allen (Penn) and Louis Dale (Cornell).
What we expected, and it happened: Harvard contended for the title. There hasn’t been much in the way of rebuilding time since Tommy Amaker got the Crimson rolling a couple of years into his tenure, and they were expected to be right there this time around. You can expect they’ll contend next year as well.
What we expected, and it didn’t happen: Most figured Princeton would be right there in contention for the league title, but the Tigers got off to a bad start and were never really in the mix, ultimately missing the league tournament entirely.
What we didn’t expect, and it happened: Cornell was the fourth team in the league tournament. Most would have projected some order of Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale, with the fifth team being wide open. Cornell got past Princeton, who surprisingly struggled.
Team(s) on the rise: Cornell. Brian Earl got this team into the league tournament in his second season at the helm – often a challenging year while rebuilding – and should have just about everyone of consequence back, led by the league scoring champion.
Team(s) on the decline: Hard to say anyone is, really. A few teams may move down in the standings from this year, but even the teams in the bottom half by and large have a lot coming back to build on.
2018-19 League Outlook
Looking ahead to next year, there’s a lot to like overall, meaning the league should be intensely competitive once again. At first glance, for favorites you start with the way the teams finished this season since most teams will return a lot of production and experience.
Harvard will bring back as much as anyone, starting with the big three of Bryce Aiken, Seth Towns and Chris Lewis. They are just the beginning, however, and this team should be even more hungry after a tough loss in the league title game.
Penn, Yale and Princeton are the first three teams to figure as contenders alongside the Crimson, and Cornell should continue their rise as well, though making up the production of the departed Stone Gettings will not be trivial as he was in the top ten in the league in scoring, rebounding and assists. Princeton may have missed the league tournament, and they will miss Amir Bell, but with Devin Cannady, Myles Stephens and Jerome Desrosiers returning, the Tigers will have enough talent and experience to contend. While Columbia, Brown and Dartmouth brought up the rear, all three should be better and thus become tougher outs if healthy.
While a replica of the standings would be the easy bet, the most likely scenario is that someone makes a run into the top four and someone slides out due to injuries, underachieving or something else. Either way, the product that the Ivy League will put out will be one to watch.
