Men's Hoops Update

Apparently, many of you thought Pete Carril's "no wonder that guy threw a chair at you" line was very funny.

It was even funnier in the moment. Hey, did you know this about Carril? Who was the losing coach in his first ever game as Princeton's head coach?

The answer is: Bobby Knight, back when Knight was coaching at Army.

It was on Dec. 1, 1967, that Carril made his debut as the Tiger head coach, beginning a tenure that would take him all the way to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis 29 years later. Here is how the Daily Princetonian story about Carril's first game began:

With one hand directing the action on the court and the other probably clutching an aspirin bottle, Pete Carril won his first basketball game as head coach at Princeton University Friday night, 62-59 over Army. But in the process he saw all his seeds of concern for the early season grow into ugly weeds. Laughing weakly after Army's well-drilled team had finally learned that you're not supposed to beat the eighth-ranked team in the nation on its home court, Carril joked, "What a way to start my career at Princeton." He added in the same breath. "We played a terrible game."

Yeah. TigerBlog can hear Carril's saying those words. 

Can you picture Pete Carril and Bobby Knight when they were young coaches? TB has always wondered at what point Carril went from young coach to being considered a bit eccentric and curmudgeonly? Is there a specific age where that happens. 

And yes, TigerBlog gets that with every passing year, those names mean less and less to those who weren't around to see them in their primes. 

Maybe that's why TB does what he can to keep the Carril legend, and those of other Princetonians, alive. Meanwhile, there is the matter of current events. 

On the men's basketball side, there are three regular season games remaining for all eight teams. 

Right now, Yale is 11-0. Behind the Bulldogs, there are five teams who are pushing for the other three spots in the Ivy League tournament, which, by the way, begins in Providence in just 17 days.

Were the tournament to start today, the other three teams would be Dartmouth, Cornell and Princeton, in that order. That, in all likelihood, will change radically in the next two weekends. 

For the record, the teams enter this weekend with Dartmouth at 7-4, Princeton and Cornell at 6-5 and Harvard and Brown at 5-6. Penn is 3-8, and Columbia is 1-10.

Princeton's remaining three games are at Columbia Friday night at 7 and then at Cornell Sunday at 2. That game can be seen on ESPNU, which is why it is Sunday. It also gives Princeton an extra day of rest after the long bus ride.

Princeton finishes the regular season at Jadwin Gym on Saturday, March 8, with tip-off at 2. This schedule makes Princeton the only team in the top six of the standings who plays both of the teams in the bottom two in the standings now, though who knows if that is an actual advantage — since Princeton beat Columbia by four and Penn by two the first time around, nothing will be easy. 

Brown came from way back last year to make the Ivy tournament field and then came within 30 seconds of getting into the NCAA tournament. The Bears are going to have to come from behind again to get in, and they have a huge game Friday night at Harvard. 

It's possible that whoever loses that game won't be mathematically eliminated, but there will be a lot of help needed to get in. Brown finishes the year with a game at Dartmouth Saturday and then home against Yale next weekend; Harvard has the Brown game and then Yale Saturday and Dartmouth in its finale.

Princeton, by the way, can clinch its Ivy tournament spot with two wins this weekend and a loss to Yale by the team that wins the Harvard-Brown game. And possibly even with one win, depending on how it all plays out. 

This Friday is the 28th. March begins Saturday. The Madness is right round the corner. 

Consider this weekend its prelude.