To The Groundhog

Okay, once again, TigerBlog has to point out the obvious.

If the groundhog's forecasting prowess can determine whether or not there will be an early spring or six more weeks of winter, then those two outcomes are supposed to be radically different. Of course, six more weeks from Feb. 2 is March 16, which is five days before the end of winter. 

In other words, six more weeks of winter and an early spring are the same thing. Then again, what do you expect from getting highly scientific weather analysis from a rodent?

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, when said rodent gets to make the annual prediction about how much more winter there will be. It wasn't that big of a deal until 1993, when the movie of the same name was released. 

Somehow, it didn't earn a single Academy Award nomination. And yet? There aren't too many movies that are thought of more fondly than "Groundhog Day," which was funny and touching and clever. 

It also made "Groundhog Day" a term used to refer to things that happen over and over, as opposed to weather prediction. That's not easy to do.

Anyway, March 16, in addition to being six weeks from Groundhog Day, will also be the championship game of the Ivy League men's basketball tournament. The women's final will be the day before.

The tournament will be held at Brown, by the way. 

If the tournament were to start today, only Princeton would be in both the men's and women's tournaments. Of course, there is a very, very long way to go until then. 

Princeton's women improved to 6-1 in the league with a pair of wins this weekend, taking down 74-38 and Brown 60-47. Back when Pete Carril was the Princeton men's coach, TigerBlog used to think that holding a pair of opponents under 100 points for a weekend was an extraordinary accomplishment.

It's even more impressive these days, with the shorter shot clock, the more athletic teams, the greater balance in the league, more reliable three-point shooters. Carla Berube's Princeton teams still emphasize defense above all else, and the results speak for themselves.

The score of the Princeton-Brown game may make it seem like it was a comfortable win, but it was anything but. In fact, it was a 43-43 game at the end of the third quarter, and Brown had the home court and the confidence that grows as you come closer and closer to an upset.

Instead, the fourth quarter was all Princeton. The Tigers shut out Brown for the first 7:07 and allowed only four points for the entire 10 minutes. Princeton, meanwhile, ripped off the first 13 points of the quarter, including getting back-to-back threes from Fadima Tall, who finished with a career high of 18 points.

As the women are at the midway point, Columbia is 7-0, followed by the 6-1 Tigers, 5-2 Harvard and 4-3 Brown. Every other league team has at least five losses.

Winning a road game against a good team when it's tied after three quarters is impressive. So too is what the Princeton men's team did Saturday, at home against Brown.

Princeton came into the game having lost two straight league games, including one Friday night against Yale, who swept the weekend at Princeton and Penn to stay unbeaten through six games. Brown came into the game having won at Penn Friday night. 

That's a different kind of challenge. How did Princeton handle it? 

The Tigers sprinted away from Brown with a 20-5 run midway through the first half and then held off any move from the Bears, winning 69-49. It was an impressive start to finish performance from a team that had to turn the page quickly after the game Friday night.

As a side note, Princeton's dynamic junior duo of Caden Pierce and Xaivian Lee are closing in on 1,000 points each. As the Tigers prepare to head to the Palestra Friday night, Lee is sitting on 992, while Pierce is at 989. 

For the men, the standings now have Yale at 6-0, Cornell at 5-1, Princeton at 4-2 and Dartmouth at 3-3. Brown, Harvard and Penn are all 2-4, while Columbia is 0-6.

There's a long way to go between now and Ivy Madness. And Groundhog Madness, with its early spring and six more weeks of winter all rolled into one.