Tip-Off Saturday

It appears that the following two items are definitely true: 1) people love top 25 rankings and 2) a lot of people have an opinion on why the one they just read had to be written by an idiot.

Well, maybe the second one isn't exactly true. On the other hand, TigerBlog did get some feedback yesterday on his list of the 25 greatest coaches in Princeton history that suggested that perhaps others could have done better. 

And that's fine. That's how it should be. 

Also, TB didn't include any honorable mentions. He can tell you that he struggled to have to leave out people like Gail Ramsay, Bob Surace, Sean Driscoll, Luis Nicolao, Bill Carmody, Jimmy Reed, Al Nies and others. 

If those last two names aren't familiar, Reed was a longtime head coach for men's soccer and wrestling, beginning in the 1930s, around the time Nies was ending his career as the head coach of soccer and lacrosse. 

This was an easier project than the top 25 athletes, partly because there were far fewer coaches than athletes and partly because it wasn't a group project. 

And it seems like it was well-received and started a few conversations, which is also good. 

So thank you to Mark Schwartz, the men's lacrosse alum who suggested it in the first place. 

If TB were to come back in a few years and update this, then head men's basketball coach Mitch Henderson would certainly be in the conversation. Carla Berube, the head women's coach, is already on the list. 

They both have big games tomorrow, one in Jadwin Gym and the other in Cambridge, Mass. Both games tip-off at 2.

For the men, it's the Ivy League opener for all eight teams. Your schedule is Princeton at Harvard, Brown at Yale, Cornell at Columbia and Penn at Dartmouth. 

Princeton brings an 11-4 overall record into the league schedule. Only Columbia, at 11-2, has a better record. Harvard is 5-8 in its non-league schedule, with a 71-65 win over Bowdoin in its most recent game.

Dalen Davis, the sophomore guard, is the reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, after his game-winning three-pointer in the 76-75 win over Akron in a game in which he had 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals.

As for the women, this is the second game of the league season, though the schedule is the inverse of the men's. Princeton, Columbia, Harvard and Dartmouth are all 1-0. The first three of those teams are all in the top 52 of the Division I NET rankings.

Columbia is at No. 52. Princeton is at No. 44. Harvard is No. 37. That's a great non-league performance for the league, which twice has gotten an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament (Princeton in 2016, Columbia last season). 

Harvard is 12-1 on the season. Without looking, do you know which team beat the Crimson? Hint - that team also has a win over Princeton this season.

Harvard's best win is over Indiana. It's most amazing win came in its most recent game, when the Crimson took down Boston University 86-26. 

What was the score of that game after one quarter? It was 20-15. That means that Harvard outscored BU 66-11 for the final three quarters. 

Oh, and the Harvard loss was to Quinnipiac, though the Crimson have won 10 straight since. 

What kind of game will it be? Well, both teams have similar offensive numbers, as Harvard averages 70.3 and Princeton 68.3. Defensively, Harvard leads the league at 52.5, while Princeton is at 59.5 — though the Tigers have built their Berube-dominant teams starting on the defensive end out.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the key cog for Harvard is Harmoni Turner, whose 20.7 points per game average is 2.3 better than any other player in the league. 

It's a good-looking Saturday of Princeton basketball, with one game home and one on the road. Keep in mind that there is a long way to go until the Ivy tournament tips off on March 14.

This is only Game 2 of 14 in the league for the women and Game 1 of 14 for the men.

Still, for early January? 

It's a great taste of what's to come.