PRINCETON, N.J. – The battle to be labeled the Ivy League preseason favorite was a tight one, but it was ultimately Yale which earned the rights to the title in the 2021-22 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll. Only seven points separated the first and third-ranked teams in the media poll, which consisted of two members that cover each school and a national media member.  
 
Ivy League regular season champions four of the last six seasons, the Bulldogs collected 115 points and seven first-place votes. Yale’s leading returning scorer is Azar Swain, who set a single-season program record in 2019-20 with 93 made triples on his way to earning All-Ivy First Team recognition. 
 
Harvard was second in the poll with 110 points, which was just five fewer than Yale. The Crimson, which has been Ivy regular season champions seven of the last 10 seasons, garnered four first-place votes. 
 
Just two points behind Harvard, was Princeton with 108 points and two first-place votes. Penn, which finished fourth in the poll with 93 points, and Brown, which was fifth with 79 points, also had a pair of first-place votes. 
 
The poll was rounded out by Dartmouth with 43 points, Cornell with 39 points and Columbia with 25 points. 
 
Non-conference action tips off on Tuesday, November 9 with seven teams in action. Ivy League play begins on Saturday, Jan. 2. 
 
2021-22 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll (First Place Votes)
1. Yale – 115 (7)
2. Harvard – 110 (4)
3. Princeton – 108 (2)
4. Penn – 93 (2)
5. Brown – 79 (2)
6. Dartmouth – 43
7. Cornell – 39
8. Columbia – 25