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PRINCETON, N.J. – With one spot to the 2019 Ivy League Basketball Tournament left to claim, three teams – Brown, Cornell and Penn – remain alive heading into the final weekend of action, while Harvard, Princeton and Yale are still in the hunt for the 2019 Ivy League Championship.
Brown owns the inside track to the final spot after defeating Cornell, 75-51, in a key matchup last weekend in Providence, to take sole possession of fourth-place in the standings. The Big Red dropped to 5-7 and currently sit tied for fifth with Penn.
Although Columbia, which is coming off its first Ivy League weekend road sweep since 2016, can finish in a tie for fourth, the Lions lose out in all tiebreaking scenarios and therefore cannot qualify for the tournament.
IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP
Harvard and Yale are tied for first in the Ivy League standings at 9-3, with Princeton one game back at 8-4. Harvard controls its own destiny, as the Crimson swept both the Bulldogs and Tigers this season. Yale won the first matchup against Princeton, with the second game taking place on Saturday night.
A three-way tie for the championship between the three teams would result in Harvard getting the top seed thanks to a 4-0 record versus the other two teams in the tie. In that scenario, Princeton will have defeated Yale, thus equalizing the series. In that case, the tiebreaker between the two would fall to both teams’ record against the fourth-place team, which will also be determined this weekend.
IN THE DRIVERS’ SEAT
Brown controls its own destiny. A weekend sweep of Princeton and Penn would ensure the Bears a trip to their first-ever Ivy League tournament.
Brown would finish the regular season with an 8-6 record and own sole possession of fourth-place. The best Cornell could finish is 7-7 and Penn would finish either 6-8 (with a loss to Brown and win over Yale) or 5-9 (with losses to both Brown and Yale).
Brown could clinch a spot Friday night if the Bears defeat Princeton, coupled with a Cornell loss at Harvard and a Penn loss at home versus Yale.
The Bears would be 7-6 heading in the final game against Penn with a two-game advantage as Cornell and Penn would be 5-8 after Friday, and the best both teams could finish the regular season is 6-8.
TWO TEAMS TIED AT 7-7
If Brown and Cornell end the regular season in a two-way tie at 7-7
How the Bears fare against Princeton and Penn will be one factor and how the top of the standings shake out will be the second:
Brown splits with a win at Princeton and a loss at Penn, and Cornell sweeps
Tied with 7-7 marks, the head-to-head tiebreaker is bypassed since Brown and Cornell split the regular season meetings. The tiebreaker then compares each teams’ record against the highest seed outside the tie and continues through the full league standings. If Brown wins at Princeton and loses at Penn, the tiebreakers favor the Bears if Princeton is ahead of Harvard because Brown swept Princeton while Penn went 0-2 against the Tigers. If Harvard and Princeton finish tied, the group is treated as a pair, and still favors Brown. The Bears would own a 3-1 mark against the pod and the Big Red would be 2-2 so Brown would advance.
Brown splits with a loss at Princeton and a win at Penn, and Cornell sweeps
Tied with 7-7 marks, the head-to-head tiebreaker is bypassed since Brown and Cornell split the regular season meetings. The tiebreaker then compares each teams’ record against the highest seed outside the tie and continues through the full league standings.
If Brown loses at Princeton and wins at Penn, the tiebreakers favor the Bears if Princeton is ahead of Harvard because Brown split with Princeton while Penn went 0-2 against the Tigers. If Harvard and Princeton finish tied - the group is treated as a pair – and both squads went 2-2 against Harvard and Princeton. The tiebreaker would then continue to the next spot in the standings. Brown and Cornell are both 1-1 versus Penn, 1-1 versus Columbia and 2-0 versus Dartmouth.
The next step of this tiebreaker is to take an average of the most recent ratings (Sagarin, Kenpom, BPI and NCAA Net).
If Brown and Penn end the regular season in a two-way tie at 7-7
Penn would advance due to its 2-0 head-to-head record against the Bears.
If Cornell and Penn end the regular season in a two-way tie at 7-7
Tied with 7-7 marks, the head-to-head tiebreaker is bypassed since Cornell and Penn split the regular season meetings. The tiebreaker than compares each teams’ record against the highest seed outside the tie and continuing through the full league standings. The tiebreaker favors Cornell if Harvard is ahead of Yale or if there is a tie between Yale and Harvard. The Big Red swept the Crimson 2-0, while Penn is 0-2 against Harvard. If there is a tie, Harvard and Yale are treated as a group, Cornell is 2-2 against the pod, while Penn is 1-3. The tiebreaker favors Penn if Yale finishes ahead of Harvard because Penn would own a 1-1 record against Yale (by defeating Yale at home on Friday) compared to the Big Reds’ 0-2 mark against the Bulldogs.
THREE-WAY TIE AT 7-7
If Brown, Cornell and Penn end the season in a three-way tie for fourth place at 7-7, Penn advances any under three-way tie scenario. The higher seed will go to the team that has won the most League contests against the other teams tied at that spot. Penn is 3-1 against Brown and Cornell, while the Big Red own a 2-2 mark and Brown is 1-3 against this pod.
FOUR-WAY TIE AT 6-8
If Columbia continues its hot streak and finishes out the regular season at 6-8 and Brown, Cornell and Penn finish 6-8, there will be a four-way tie for the final spot to the tournament. The higher seed will go to the team that has won the most League contests against the other teams tied at that spot. Penn is 4-2 against Brown, Columbia and Cornell, while the Big Red and Lions would be tied at 3-3 with the Bears owning a 2-4 record against this pod.