Does a Curse Plague Harvard?

Before Saturday night, I tried not to think about it. But at this point, there’s no way around it.

Harvard basketball is cursed.

Towards the end of March in 1946, the Crimson suited up and headed to Madison Square Garden for the eighth NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. In the first round, Harvard fell to Ohio State, 46-38, and the team was done about as soon as it started.

About three months later, in the bustling metropolis of Paris, France, an event far more significant took place. Early in July of 1946, the bikini first hit the shelves, beginning what is now the norm of women’s casual swimwear.

Harvard has not made the Tournament since then. Until recently, the team was rarely even close.

I am left to conclude that, for reasons I have yet to explain, the schism of the women’s bathing suit into two parts has kept the Crimson out of March Madness.

Yes, Harvard has fallen victim to the Curse of the Bikini.

Curses are, of course, nothing new to Bostonians. The Curse of the Bambino was only recently broken. The Curse of Eli Manning lives on.

But the curse which presently afflicts Harvard is of a different breed than what residents of Beantown are used to.

The Curse of the Bikini is much more like the Curse of the Billy Goat that has kept the Chicago Cubs out of the World Series for so many years.

Between 1946 and 2009, Harvard basketball had a grand total of 15 winning seasons. In the years that the team had any measure of success, it rarely even came close to an Ivy League title.

The Crimson has had its opportunities. In 1971, led by Fox NFL Sunday anchor James Brown and a set of talented recruits, the team finished 11-3 in the Ivies. And that was nowhere good enough to fend off Penn.

In the 1997, the team was 10-4 in league play. Nope.

For four seasons—2007 through 2010—Jeremy Lin played for Harvard. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Lin, he has appeared on the cover of Time Magazine and two Sports Illustrated covers in about 14 days, and more or less has singlehandedly brought the Knicks out of the dog house and into contention.

His best year? A 10-4 Ivy record during his senior year. The Crimson fell victim in 2010 to a Cornell squad that made it to the Sweet Sixteen.

And finally, in each the last two seasons, Harvard has more or less been one basket away from Madness.

In a 2011 Ivy League playoff against Princeton, Doug Davis hit a buzzer beater to send the Crimson to the NIT.

Saturday night, that Curse—well, frustration, for those of you who aren’t as superstitious—proved that it continues to reign free over Harvard basketball.

With a win, Harvard would have locked up at least a share of the Ivy League title, and for all intents and purposes, it would have sealed the Tournament berth.

In the final seconds of the game, co-captain Oliver McNally found Kyle Casey inside, who appeared hit the layup. Harvard looked like it had taken a one point lead with about three ticks left.

But the Crimson was called for a charge, and Harvard couldn’t foul the Quakers in the final moments of the game—another questionable call, really. I would say that the only thing that kept the student section from rioting was that it was too stunned to do so.

Barring any upsets in the final week of the season, Harvard may very well have to suit up against Penn for another Ivy League playoff in New Haven.

For Harvard fans, it’s tough not to be pessimistic at this point. And I can’t think of a better time for the Curse of the Bikini to rear its ugly head than at a playoff game at the start of Spring Break.

On the way back to campus after Saturday’s game against Penn, a passer-by asked what had happened in the contest. It took a few melancholic grunts from the students, but he eventually figured it out.

His response: “If I were you, I’d drink heavily.”

At least for the time being, that would probably help.

—Staff writer E. Benjamin Samuels can be reached at samuels@college.harvard.edu.