Cornell is finally getting some recognition for a fine season with the coaches easing the Big Red into the Top 25 just in time for the Yale Bulldogs to arrive in Ithaca.
There is probably a law somewhere that makes it illegal for a dumb ol' Texas Aggie such as myself to discuss anything about the Ivy League. Maybe the judge will go easy on me.
Each season on the college hardwood there is a team doing its best impersonation of the little engine that could. Cornell as that team for the 2009-10 campaign.
The owner of an 18-3 record this season, and recent anointment by the coaches as the No. 25 team in the land, the Big Red will be home Friday night against the Yale Bulldogs.
I know what you're saying. Cornell is just a feel-good story for the college basketball season. They'll wind up getting a No. 8 seed, maybe a lot or two higher if they keep running the table in the Ivy League, then get popped the first day of March Madness by some sixth-place team from the Big 12 or Big East and that will be the end of it.
You're probably right, but then again...
The Big Red's three losses were to Seton Hall, Syracuse and Kansas, and Steve Donahue's bunch played well in all three. Cornell was up by six in Lawrence against the Jayhawks with under eight minutes to go, and had a lead at the 60-second mark before succumbing to Kansas.
Cornell, as you'd expect, wins with the three. The Big Red is third in the nation averaging 9.6 three-pointers per game and tied with BYU for second in the nation hitting the long range tries at 42 percent. Senior forward Ryan Wittman tops the team charts with a 17.5 scoring average, hitting his shots from behind the arc at slightly under the team average (41.3%).
Jeff Foote is the biggest Red of all, standing 7-foot even and second on the team with a 12.4 PPG mark while pulling down a Cornell-best 8.4 boards.
The straight up losses to Seton Hall and Syracuse were also losers at the window, as 3 ½-point favorites to the Pirates and as 13-point dogs to the Orange. Cornell was 21-point underdogs at Kansas. On the season the Big Red is 13-3 against the spread, including an impressive 8-1 record away from Ithaca.
The last time Cornell didn't cover a spread was Dec. 20 when it went to overtime as seven-point chalk to top Davidson, 91-88.
The Big Red will be facing an Eli bunch that is just 8-13 on the season, 2-2 in Ivy League play, but a respectable 7-4 in lined action. Yale is averaging a little more than nine points per game less than Cornell while playing a far softer schedule.
The matchup between Michael Sands for the Bulldogs and Wittman of the Big Red bears watching, but that might be it for this one.
After opening as 22-point chalk, the line on Cornell has come down a point to 21. That's still too rich for me despite the Big Red covering 26-point home chalk just last week vs. Dartmouth and cashing a minus 19 ticket in front of the home fans against Columbia a little more than two weeks ago.
The fact the 'over/under' is 5-5 in this series since 2005 doesn't help much either. The total for Friday's game opened at 137 ½.
One interesting factor in Ivy League games this time of year is the back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday nights. Cornell hosts Brown on Saturday with Yale traveling on to Columbia.
And after this weekend the Big Red will hit the Ivy highway the next two weekends with key stops at Princeton and Harvard, the only real competition Donahue's gang faces in the conference. Keep that in mind if you're playing any games from this conference the rest of the month.
Cornell pounded rival Harvard last Sat by 36 points at home. This was the day after they pounded Dartmouth by 34. I think Yale is a less talented team than Harvard. Cornell does not mind running up the score at home...........They are in the top 25 and looking for impressive wins to gain more votes. I see a blowout here. It's either Cornell or a pass for me. May win this one by 40.
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Cornell streaking through Ivy League with Yale up next
Reply With Quote
