A House Sort Of Divided

 TigerBlog noticed the most updated standings for the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, released yesterday.

The result is that he's able to write one of his favorite sentences: Princeton is the only non-Power Five school in the Top 20. Schools are awarded points based on NCAA championship event participation and success.

The Tigers checked in at No. 14. The only other non-Power Five school in the first 39 on the list was BYU, and the Cougars will be moving into the Big XII this coming fall. Princeton got points in the winter from men's basketball, women's basketball, wrestling, men's indoor track and field, men's swimming and diving and co-ed fencing.

Princeton finished 18th a year ago for its best finish ever. The Cup has been awarded every year since 1994, and Princeton has been the highest finishing Ivy League school in all but three years. Princeton has also routinely been the top finishing FCS school and non-Power Five school.

It speaks to the great overall success, and sustained success, that Princeton Athletics has enjoyed through the decades. Can Princeton beat its record of a year ago? It won't be easy, though Princeton is looking good to finish in the top 30 for the eighth time and top 40 for the 18th time in the 27 years of the award. 

Check back in June to see.

In the meantime, when the 2022-23 Princeton Athletic year began, TigerBlog circled a few dates on his calendar, and one of them was April 8.

Why? 

It's because tomorrow will be the day that Princeton hosts Columbia in women's lacrosse at 3:30, which means that it'll bring Lions' freshman Ali Surace to take on the school whose football team is coached by her father Bob. 

Surace (Ali, that is) has played in all 11 Columbia games so far, starting the last six. A defender, she has three caused turnovers and four ground balls. Her bio on Columbia's website reads this way:

Parents are Lisa (Princeton ’92) and Bob (Princeton ’90)…Father is Head Coach of Princeton University Football…Mother played soccer at Princeton, father played football

Yes, it'll be an interesting day for the Surace family. 

As for Princeton, the Tigers are looking to bounce back from a 19-17 loss at St. Joe's Wednesday afternoon. Princeton is 1-1 in the Ivy League, one of three teams with one loss (Cornell, Brown), behind unbeatens Yale and Penn. For Princeton, a perfect afternoon would have the Tigers defeat Columbia and Penn defeat Yale, which would mean that Princeton would be assured of no worse than a tie for the league title by winning out from there, including a visit to Penn in two weeks.

The women's game is the second game of a Sherrerd Field doubleheader. While the Princeton women have an Ivy game that they need, the men's team steps out of the league to take on Syracuse at noon. 

Princeton and Syracuse have a remarkable history, despite the fact that this will only be the 30th meeting between the two. Between them, they put together the greatest run of two teams in NCAA lacrosse history, as one or the other won every national championship from 1992 through 2004 except for 1999 and 2003. 

From 1992-2003, every Princeton season ended either with an NCAA title or an NCAA loss to Syracuse. During that time, Princeton was 4-6 against Syracuse in the postseason and 21--0 against everyone else; Princeton won six titles in those 12 seasons.

After this, there are three Ivy games for the Tigers, who are at Dartmouth, home against Harvard and at Cornell. At 2-1 in the league, Princeton would be assured of a share of the title by winning out. The Tigers also are looking to get into the Ivy tournament, something that eluded the team last year, when it reached the Final Four. 

The lacrosse games are two of the 30 events involving Princeton teams this weekend. Among the other big events are men's and women's tennis against Columbia and Cornell (men home against Columbia Friday and at Cornell Sunday; women at Columbia Friday and home against Cornell Sunday), home softball against Penn, baseball at Penn, Princeton Invitational men's golf, home men's lightweight rowing and home women's rugby.

The complete schedule is HERE.

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