Penn to Three-Peat

For seven of the eight men's basketball teams in the Ivy League, there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that Penn hasn't clinched the league title yet.

The bad news is that the Quakers will--really soon.

Penn, with its wins last weekend against Harvard and Dartmouth, holds a commanding three-game lead in the Ancient Eight over Brown with only five league games left in the season. At the moment, it looks pretty darn certain that the Quakers (17-4 overall, 9-0 Ivy) will make their third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

So, the pertinent question at this point is how far the boys from Philly look to go in the Big Dance. Last year Penn lost in the second round to the Final Four bound Florida Gators, and two key players from last year's squad--senior guards Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney--are back.

Maloney has been particularly hot. On Saturday night against Harvard he scored more than 30 points in a game for the second time this month, hitting 10-15 three-pointers for a total of 34 points. With Maloney leading the way, the Quakers won 88-73.

Friday night wasn't quite as easy for the Quakers, as they had to rally to beat Dartmouth, 57-48. But Penn fans can't really complain when their team has won 38 straight Ivy games.

Now the Quakers are gearing up for a matchup with No. 11 Villanova tonight--their final tough game before the Tourney. The Wildcats, of course, are coming off their upset of former No. 1 Connecticut.

In other Ivy action, the interesting race looks to be the battle for second place. Right now Brown has the upper hand holding a slim half-game lead over Princeton, while the Big Green lurks a half-game in back of the Tigers, thanks to Princeton's 73-62 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday.

The Tigers have quietly won five straight games, showing that coach Pete Carril still has it in him.

But the Tigers last loss was to the Bears, who are also pretty hot. Brown has won six of its last eight games, with the two losses coming against Dartmouth and Penn.

The race for second place will probably come down to the meeting between the Tigers and Bears in Princeton, New Jersey on March 4th.

Elsewhere in the league, Cornell and Yale are tied for fifth, two games behind Dartmouth and two ahead of Harvard. The Big Red is not exactly the road warrior of the Ivies--the team is only 1-9 overall away from central New York.

The Elis, meanwhile, are in a bit of a slump, They've only won one of their last seven games, with that win coming over Harvard. What's more, the Bulldogs have lost to some pretty despicable teams such as St. Francis (87-77) and Columbia on Friday night (79-69).

Yale's next Ivy game is against Harvard, and though teams like Penn don't really give a damn who wins, the matchup is key for the two participants. Both teams are desperate need of a win--Harvard has lost 15 of its last 16--and whoever loses will be out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Lastly, three cheers for Columbia, which finally won its first Ivy game with the win over Yale. For all you Lions' fans out there, though, don't expect another anytime soon.

IVY STANDINGS     OVERALL  IVY Team  W  L  PCT  W  L  PCT Penn  17  4  .810  9  0  1.000 Brown  12  10  .545  7  3  .700 Princeton  12  9  .571  6  3  .6 67 Dartmouth  9  13  .409  6  4  .6 00 Cornell  9  13  .410  4  6  .400 Yale  8  13  .381  4  6  .400 Harvard  4  18  .182  2  8  . 200 Columbia  4  18  .182  1  9  .10 0