For the first time since the ’97-’98 season, Cornell of the Ivy League, has been selected to the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll and accordingly deserves mention among the NCAA’s best hoop programs like Kansas, Villanova, and Kentucky.
Also, the Big Red are the only Ivy League school besides Princeton and Pennsylvania to ever make one of the nation’s Top 25 polls. Cornell’s last selection came nearly 50 years ago, back in 1951, when they started the season with 9 straight wins and were ranked as high as #14 in the Associated Press poll.
This year’s version of Cornell is not what you would come to expect of an Ivy League program. They have more than held their own against other national opponents in their non-conference schedule and have just absolutely dominated their Ivy League brethren.
In fact, they have already beaten some bigger non-conference teams like St. John’s, Massachusetts, Alabama, Drexel, LaSalle, and almost pulled off an upset of current #1 Kansas, even holding a late lead over the Jayhawks, before losing 71-66 in the game’s final moments, putting them in good standing come Tournament selection time.
The Big Red hold a decisive 2 game lead against their conference opponents and have already beaten the conference’s other pre-season favorite, Harvard by 36 points. Their only other obstacle in winning the regular season conference crown is a home and away match-up with Princeton(11-5), who is also undefeated in the Ivy League(2-0).
Cornell has had two players generating some NBA buzz as the season progresses, as a few scouts have made their way to witness some of their games. They are led by 6’6 SF, Randy Wittman(17.5 ppg) and 7 foot center, Jeff Foote(12.4 ppg, 8.4 rebs), both of which were courted by other Division I Mid Major schools before enrolling at Cornell.
They have already had a 10 game win streak earlier this season and are riding a current 6 gamer with 10 games remaining. They have been so dominating in conference play, they have an average margin of victory of more than 30 ppg.
Head Coach, Steve Donahue reminded his team that being ranked is a big honor, especially for a team from such a small conference but cautioned his players not to lose sight of their ultimate goal, an NCAA Tournament berth.
Keep the Big Red in mind when figuring which teams to select as possible bracket-busters come March.
Check out some footage of Cornell’s blowout win over Harvard:
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
