Princeton Should Win Ivy League Title Over Penn, Cornell, Harvard Quintets

Bill Bradley of Princeton is the best college basketball player in the country. Without him, the Tigers would be an inexperienced, unpoised, and unexceptional team; with him they're among the best in the country, and should win their third straight Ivy League title with little difficulty.

The Tigers showed just how good they are in the ECAC holiday tournament at Madison Square Garden. In the semifinals, Princeton met the number-one team in the country, Michigan, and led the Wolverines 77-63 with just three minutes to play. Then Bradley, who had scored 41 points, fouled out, and Princeton fell apart. Michigan won in the last three seconds of play, 80-78.

Princeton has compiled a 6-4 record to date, but after Ivy competition begins Friday the Tigers--barring a miraculous upset--probably won't lose more than one game. With a one-man team like Bradley, the Tigers will be in trouble if their All-American ever has an off night (which is rare) or if he fouls out of a game.

But against Ivy opponents, Princeton's sophomore-dominated supporting cast will probably be good enough to keep the Tigers from falling apart. Gary Walters is a sharp-shooting guard, while 6-6 Ed Hummer and 6-9 Robbie Brown make Princeton one of the tallest squads in the League.

Will Lose To Penn

Princeton's one lose will come at Pennsylvania on January 30. Penn is the one team capable of upsetting the Tigers for the League championship, and they are nearly unbeatable on their home court.

Penn has the Ivy League's best one-two punch in guard Jeff Neuman and forward Stan Pawlak. Both were among the League's top six scorers last year with 16-point averages; Neuman is a fantastic ball-handler and a great passer to boot. John Hellings, who stands 6-8, gives Penn solid rebounding strength.

Neuman and Pawlak make Penn an excellent team, but they are probably not good enough to beat out Princeton unless Bradley comes down with galloping leprosy before February.

Nobody else in the League is in the class of Princeton and Penn. Cornell, Harvard, and Columbia will be battling for the remaining places in the first division.

Cornell is a tall, deep, and well balanced quintet. The team has no super-stars; their top scorer last season, 6-7 Steve Cram, averaged only 11.9 points per game this season. The Big Red won their first six games this season before losing to Connecticut 75 to 63.

Because of its height and depth, Cornell will probably beat out Harvard for third place in the League but the Crimson should manage to finish in the first division for the first time in eighteen years. All-Ivy center Merie McClung. Keith Sedlaesk, and Gene Dressler make Harvard perhaps the best-shooting team in the League, but lack of depth and height will probably prevent the Crimson from finishing better than fourth.

Columbia is the only team which could deprive Harvard of a first-division berth. Neil Farber, who averaged 16.9 points per game last year, is the only outstanding player on the diminutive Lion team.

Brown, Yale, and Dartmouth should finish sixth, seventh, and eighth. The Bruins, with nine men on the squad standing 6-5 or better, may pull an upset or two this season, but Yale and Dartmouth will be everybody's patsies.

Here are the records the eight Ivy teams will post during the coming season: Princeton  13  1 Penn  12  2 Corneil  10  4 HARVARD  8  6 Columbia  6  8 Brown  5  9 Yale  2  12 Dartmouth  0  14