PRINCETON, N.J. — After winning the Ivy League Tournament title a season ago, Penn received 11 first-place votes and was voted the preseason favorite in the 2026-27 Ivy League Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll, voted on by 21 media members that cover the league.
The Quakers, who cut down the nets at Ivy Madness last season with two overtime victories, return unanimous First Team All-Ivy selection
TJ Power. After averaging 16.4 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game, Power helped lead Penn to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2018.
Harvard, led by unanimous First Team All-Ivy guard
Robert Hinton, was picked to finish second in the poll with 146 points and seven first-place votes. Hinton averaged 16.8 points per game last season and will lead the Crimson alongside Second Team All-Ivy selection,
Thomas Batties II.
Yale, last year's regular season champion, received two first-place votes and 133 points to take the third spot in the poll. Guards
Trevor Mullin and
Riley Fox, who both averaged more than 10 points per game last season, hope to lead the Bulldogs to another regular season title.
Princeton took the coveted fourth spot, the last spot in March’s Ivy Madness, with a total of 97 points and one first-place vote. The Tigers are the only team in the nation to return all student-athletes from last year's roster.
Cornell (82 points), Columbia (69), Brown (42), and Dartmouth (30) are featured in the second half of the poll. The Bears and the Big Green are led by new head coaches, Eric Reveno and Brett MacConnell, respectively.
The top four teams will earn spots to Ivy Madness. The event, which combines the men’s and women’s tournaments, is set for March 12-14 at The Palestra on Penn’s campus for the building's 100
th anniversary.
Ivy League men’s basketball has maintained a strong national profile, winning eight games in the NCAA Tournament since 2010 — including two Sweet 16 appearances — while producing a variety of NBA talent in the past few seasons.
The 2026 Ivy League Men’s Basketball Media Day, hosted by the Field of 68, one of college basketball’s leading digital platforms, is set for Tuesday, October 13, beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Field of 68 Ivy League basketball media day show will air live on the
Field of 68 YouTube Channel (@TheFieldOf68) and
X account (@TheFieldOf68).
2026 Ivy League Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Penn - 157 (11 first-place votes)
2. Harvard - 146 (7 first-place votes)
3. Yale - 133 (2 first-place votes)
4. Princeton - 97 (1 first-place vote)
5. Cornell - 82
6. Columbia - 69
7. Brown - 42
8. Dartmouth - 30