No Love For Ozzie, Orr To The Hall And More

Welcome to another Thursday ...

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Ozzie Nicholas was named an FCS All-American by Pro Football Focus. The senior linebacker certainly deserved it after a season in which he finished with 104 tackles, the most by a Princeton defender in nearly 20 years.

TigerBlog still isn't quite sure why Nicholas, the only unanimous first-team All-Ivy League selection on defense, wasn't a Bushnell Cup finalist, but hey, TB 1) is biased and 2) didn't have a vote. 

TB will say that in his opinion, Nicholas was the dominant defensive player in the league. He was the only player to reach triple figures in tackles, and he was in fact 11 tackles ahead of the second place finisher. 

Here's one fairly interesting number to consider: Nicholas had more than twice as many tackles as the Defensive Bushnell winner, Penn's Joey Slackman, who had 50. Yes, there are schemes and differences between being a linebacker and defensive lineman, which Slackman is, and those can definitely account for some of the differences in tackles. Linebackers usually make more tackles than defensive linemen. 

Still, that's a big disparity. Also, Nicholas had more sacks than Slackman (4.5-4). None of this is meant to take away from Slackman, who is obviously a great player. Still ...  no love for Nicholas? 

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While the subject is football, it's hard not to jump on the Tommy DeVito bandwagon. The Giants' undrafted free agent rookie third-string quarterback (and how many others have succeeded with all that in front of their names) is now 3-1 as a starter with three straight wins after rallying his team past the Packers Monday night. 

And forget all the "Tommy Cutlets" stuff and how he lives at home still. What's best about DeVito for TB is 1) the sheer joy he plays with and 2) that he wasn't drafted. Who would you rather have right now? DeVito or Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick? 

Maybe DeVito can't keep this ride going, but he certainly seems like he has some ability to go along with the energy. 

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Wait, Johnny Orr wasn't already in the EIWA Hall of Fame? 

The legendary Princeton wrestler was an EIWA champ in 1984 and NCAA runner-up in 1984 and 1985. TB assumed he was already in the Hall. This is from the goprincetontigers.com story:

Johnny Orr excelled as a wrestler in the 142-pound weight class at Princeton. With an impressive overall record of 89-9, he was a two-time EIWA place winner and secured the EIWA Championship in 1984, also receiving the Outstanding Wrestler Award that year. As a 2-time NCAA finalist in 1984 and 1985, Orr achieved the status of a 2-time All-American, 4-time First-Team All-Ivy, and 2-time Ivy Outstanding Wrestler. As a senior, he played a pivotal role in leading the Tigers to Ivy League team champions in 1985.

Orr is one of the Princeton athletes whom TB has never met but whose accomplishments are well-know to him. Congrats on the overdue honor.

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The rest of the athletics calendar for December is pretty light as first semester exams are here. The Class of 2024 has the distinction, if TB's math is correct, of being the first Princeton class to have all of its exams before the New Year, as opposed to afterwards.

For decades and decades, exams came after the New Year, which led to a massive nearly three-week break in athletic events in January. 

Now, with exams about to get underway, the only event on the calendar for the next eight days isn't even a team event and features only two Princeton athletes, Mary McKenna and Hayley Clark, who will swim in Miami Sunday in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America Open Water championships. 

The race is a 5K, which is 3.1 miles. Follow the math: the race lasts 16,368 feet, or 5,456 yards, which equates to 109 laps in a 50-yard pool or 218 in a 25-yard pool. And this is in open water.

The top five finishers in the race will advance to the USA Swimming Open Water championship.

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Speaking of open water swimming, TigerBlog watched the Diana Nyad movie on Netflix a few weeks ago. It doesn't exactly paint a flowery picture of Nyad, whose attempts to swim from Cuba to Key West were legendary.

It does, though, include the guy who played Spike in "Notting Hill," so there's that.

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Guess what's on sale? Men's lacrosse season tickets. There are five home games this season, against Manhattan, Cornell, Lehigh, Dartmouth and Penn. Total for season tickets is only $30 (gametimes by the way are subject to change).

That would make for a great gift, no? 

You can find tickets for men's lacrosse and men's and women's basketball and hockey on the main ticket page HERE.

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Doubleheader Wednesday

Do you know who the No. 1 ranked team in the country in men's basketball is? 

That would be the University of Arizona. The Wildcats are 8-0, with wins over Top 25 teams Duke, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Next up is a date against No. 3 Purdue Saturday in Indianapolis.

The two head coaches can be forgiven if their pregame chat includes various expressions of how much they hate New Jersey. 

From the Purdue side, the Boilermakers (who by the way are TigerBlog's second-favorite college basketball team) have been bounced out of the NCAA tournament the last two years by St. Peter's (2022 Sweet 16) and FDU (2023 first round, a No. 16 over a No. 1). That's two straight years where the Boilermakers were as favored as anyone to win a national title, only to be taken down by a small private school in Northern New Jersey.

And Arizona? As you probably recall, the Wildcats were a No. 2 seed in last year's NCAA tournament, only to go out in the first round against Princeton. Given the perfect start to the season, Arizona's last loss still was to the Tigers.

Princeton won its first nine games this season before falling to St. Joe's Sunday afternoon in Philly. Next up for the Tigers are games at home against Bryn Athyn today at 4 and Delaware Valley on the 22nd, with only a trip to a very good Delaware team on Dec. 30 before the Jan. 6 Ivy League opener at home against Harvard.

The game today is the first of a doubleheader that continues at 7 when the women take on Rutgers. 

The Princeton women come into that game after a 61-58 win at Villanova Monday night. It's quick turnaround for the Tigers, whose game at Villanova was a thriller all the way.

Once again, TB has to talk about Ellie Mitchell and her rebounding. She had 19 of them against Villanova. That's a ridiculous number, 19.

Mitchell ranks fifth in Division I with 11.9 boards per game. She's also one of six players in Division I with two games of at least 18 rebounds, after she had that number against Oklahoma.

She now has 938 career rebounds, leaving her four away from tying Ellen DeVoe for third in program history and 26 away from tying Bella Alarie for second. The record is currently held by Margaret Meier, with 1,099.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn Chen had a 31-point night against Villanova, which was 1) a career high and 2) more than half of Princeton's point. The Tigers were down five in the fourth quarter before coming back to win.

While Mitchell chases the career rebounding leaders, Chen is making her way up the scoring charts. Her 31-point night against Villanova left her with 968 for her career, or 32 away from becoming the 28th 1,000-point scorer in program history.

That's a lot of points, especially in only two-plus seasons. That speaks to what a great and consistent scorer Chen has been.

The Rutgers women have had 39 1,000-point scorers, the most recent of whom is Kossandra Brown, who went over the mark earlier this season. Rutgers comes to Jadwin after falling in its Big Ten opener to Indiana 66-56; Princeton has a nine-point loss to Indiana on its 7-3 record.

The teams have one other common opponent, Seton Hall, whom the Tigers defeated 75-71 in Jadwin and whom Rutgers lost to 82-63 in South Orange.

Rutgers leads the all-time series against the Tigers 17-4, though at one time that was a 15-1 edge before Princeton came out on top in three of the last five. 

The Princeton women will be playing for the second time in three days. After this, there will be plenty of rest, as the next game isn't until Dec. 29, at Vermont.

As for the men's game, Bryn Athyn comes in with a record of 8-2 on the year. If you've ever been to Bryn Athyn, which is about 45 minutes from Princeton in Bucks County, Pa., then you know that the town and the college campus are beautiful.

The team's nickname is Lions, so it'll be Lions vs. Tigers who tip at 4. Then it'll be Tigers and Scarlet Knights at 7.

Mostly Clear Skies

TigerBlog's flight back from Orlando Sunday began with an announcement from the pilot that the ride figured to be quite turbulent due to the storms that were going on in the Northeast.

Do you want to know that in advance? Or are you content to be taken by surprise? 

Fortunately, the pilot also pointed out that Boeing had built a very reliable aircraft and there was nothing at all to worry about. And then what happened? It was fairly smooth sailing the whole way.

Even the few times the seat belt sign came on wasn't that bad. When the plane landed at Newark and TB made his way to the front to get off, he saw the pilot in the door of the cockpit and, in his best Pete Carril voice, said "yo, you oversold the turbulence a little bit.

The plane itself had DirecTV, as opposed to the usual library of movies and TV shows, and TB watched the last two minutes of DePaul's 75-68 win over Louisville. If ever a game showed itself to be Exhibit A for the need to fix the end game of college basketball, this was it.

DePaul was up 71-60 with 46 seconds to go when a ball went out of bounds under the basket. One player from each team battled for the ball, and of course it ended up being reviewed. This took about two minutes or so. 

Louisville continued to foul up until the final few seconds. The last two minutes took forever, probably from the time the plane left Florida until it was over North Carolina or so.

Once that game mercifully ended, it was time for UCLA-Villanova. Unfortunately, TB couldn't get the Princeton-St. Joe's game on the in-seat console.

Princeton had come into the game with a 9-0 record, tying for its best start in history. Derek Jones, the Tigers' outstanding play-by-play man, chimed in that the last time Princeton was 9-0, "a little thing called the National Football League had not yet begun."

The perfect start for the Tigers was a follow up to last year's Sweet 16 run, and it had not gone unnoticed. Princeton has started to appear in different versions of national rankings, and players like Matt Allocco, Caden Pierce and Xavian Lee are getting some very deserved attention across the country.

Lee, in particular, has made an incredible jump from last year to this, his sophomore season. A member of the Canadian U19 team from last summer's World Championships, Lee has become a force in his first season in a leading role.

TB mentioned very early on this season that Princeton has a history of players who've made huge jumps from freshman year to sophomore year, but Lee is taking it to a different level. Consider some of his numbers:

* Lee has gone from 4.8 points per game last season to 19.5 this season
* 37.6 percent shooting last year to 48.3 percent this season
* .232 three-point percentage last season to .400 this season ... in fact, Lee took 56 three's a year ago and has taken 55 to date this season and has gone from 13 made last year to 22 this year

How many players in program history have averaged more than 19.5 points per game in a season? The answer is five. That's it.

Those five are: Bill Bradley (three times), Brian Taylor (twice), Geoff Petrie (twice), Pete Campbell (twice) and Bud Haabestad (once). Taylor is the most recent to do it, and that was back in 1971-72.

That's an extraordinary jump from Lee. Only Bradley, in the entire history of Princeton men's basketball, has averaged at least 19.5 as a sophomore.

TB got to baggage claim Sunday just in time to see the end of the game. Unfortunately, the nine-game streak ended with a 74-70 loss to the Hawks in Philadelphia, despite 20 more from Lee.

As much as it would have been great to keep the streak going, it's still been a remarkable start for the Tigers. Maybe the thought was that after last year, it might be a turbulent ride for the follow-up, but the skies have been pretty much clear to date, even with the one setback. 

Another Hall Of Fame For T

TigerBlog enjoyed the picture on Princeton men's hockey social media and on Sacred Heart's webpage of the Robbins brothers as they faced off to start the weekend's home-and-home series.

For the Tigers, it was Adam Robbins. For the Pioneers, it was Dylan Robbins. 

Setting the tone, Princeton's Robbins won the face-off. The Tigers took the game Friday night at SHU 4-0, and then the teams played to a 2-2 tie Saturday night in Princeton. 

As TB saw that picture, it got him wondering if there has ever been another family where one sibling played for Princeton and another sibling played for Sacred Heart. It didn't have to be limited to playing against each other in the same game. He was trying to figure out if there has been a family with one Pio and one Tiger.

Tough question. TB will think about it for awhile.

In the meantime, the update on the waitress who spotted TigerBlog an omelette in Orlando the other day is that TB went back, paid off the first one, ordered another and left a large gratuity. It was a nice act of kindness, something that is all too lacking these days.

TB's meetings in Florida were very productive and very fascinating. There's certainly a lot of discussion to be had moving forward, especially this coming June in Indianapolis when the men's lacrosse rules committee meets again to formalize any changes for the next two-year cycle. 

The highlight of the weekend, though, came Saturday night, when Bill Tierney was inducted into the Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches' Association Hall of Fame.

If you're wondering why he wasn't already in, he long ago was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. The IMLCA version is relatively new, and Tierney only became eligible this year, after he retired from Denver.

It was at Princeton where he built much of his Hall-of-Fame resume. Actually, it was where he built all of it, since he was still Princeton's coach when he got into the National Hall, back in 2002. 

While at Princeton, Tierney took a program that had never been in an NCAA tournament and prompltly won six championships, in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2001. Princeton remains the most recent team to win three straight. The 2001 title might have been the most emotional, as it was accomplished with his sons Trevor and Brendan on the team. 

The 1992 one might have been the most improbable, coming as it did after he told his first recruiting class that it would win an NCAA title its senior year, which is what happened. That it came at a time the team was 2-13 hardly mattered on that classic Memorial Day at Franklin Field in 1992.

Tierney left Princeton in 2009 to take over at Denver, who had never won an NCAA game until his arrival. He won it all there in 2015, making him the only coach ever to win with more than one team.

Tierney is a seminal figure in the sport's history. He has touched so many people, those who played for him and those who didn't, in ways they can't even begin to repay. There is no more loyal a group than Tierney's former Princeton players, who to a man know that they wouldn't have become who they are today without T's influence.

The same is true for TigerBlog. He knew nothing about lacrosse back in 1990, when he first met Tierney. The idea then that he would be on the NCAA rules committee one day for the sport? TB didn't know any of the rules before he met Tierney. It was Tierney who sat him down and taught him the basics and then slowly expanded to the strategic. 

He helped foster in TB a love for the sport that has lasted for decades. More than that, he has been someone TB knows he can always count on, for whatever the need. You're luck if you find someone like that in your life. 

Tierney also was TigerBlog Jr.'s childhood idol — "my friend Bill," he used to call him. Without that, TBJ would never have become a lacrosse player in his own right, and neither would Miss TigerBlog. Everything positive that has come out of the sport for TB and his children can be traced back to Bill Tierney. 

So would TB be there Saturday night to celebrate? Of course. It could have been in Orlando, Alaska, as opposed to Orlando, Florida. TB would still have made sure he was there. 

TigerBlog has been asked many times for a photo of Tierney with an NCAA trophy. The reality is he doesn't have any. Why? Because there aren't any. 

Bill Tierney was never about that. He was never about getting in front of the room to give an acceptance speech for an honor, even for a Hall of Fame.

Nope. He has always been about that day, what needed to be done, how to make his team better, how to make his guys better. Keep working. Keep moving forward. 

That's how he ended up in the front of the room Saturday night. He was introduced by his daughter Brianne, herself the head coach of the women's team at Kent State. Brianne's speech was everything you'd want from a moment like that — funny, serious, emotional and most importantly from the heart.

Then it was her father's turn to speak. It was classic Tierney. He was understated. He thanked everyone. He said, again, "remember what others gave up so you could achieve your success." He made it seem almost like he was a bystander during all of those years, that he was just fortunate to have been surrounded by everyone who did all the heavy work.

It's not true, of course. Yes, he didn't do it alone. Yes, he had a way of making everyone in his program regardless of role— including the communications person — feel like the team's success hinged on what that person did each day.

Ultimately, though, he was the force who drove it all. He was the innovator, the motivator, the aviator who flew his teams to heights they had never dreamed possible but that he made them reach.

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Finally for today, TigerBlog found an old picture the other day of him, BrotherBlog and first cousins Paul and Janet that was taken in 1987 at Paul and Janet's old house in Fair Lawn, N.J. 

When all four of them were together the other night, TB surprised them with the photo, and the four recreated it — 36-plus years later. Here are the two photos.

Pretty sweet, right? 

It was. Very.

Of course, TB couldn't help but think that back in 1987, all four of their parents were still alive. Shortly after the photo was taken, TB's Aunt Regina passed away, at the age of 53. His Uncle Larry lived until his late 70s. 

FatherBlog, now 88, is the only one of the four still alive. 

MotherBlog? She would pass away at the age of 55, in 1994. Actually, it was 29 years ago today. Candles burn for her today in TB's house and in BB's house, even if they're 3,000 miles apart.

No Free Breakfast, Brunch Or Lunch

So TigerBlog had about an hour between meetings yesterday in Orlando, and he figured he'd go get something to eat.

There was a little place that said "Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch" that was about a 15-minute walk from his hotel, so off he went. He had an omelette with a fruit salad, and it was very good. When the bill came, he reached into his pocket to get his credit card ... and found out that the only thing he had with him was his room key. 

Interestingly, the "Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch" place doesn't take room keys. 

TB began to explain to his waitress what the situation was and how he could run back his hotel and get the money and get back in the afternoon. Instead, she told him that she'd take care of the check, because the place closes at 2:30 and TB didn't have time to get back before that. When he told her that he'd be back first thing in the morning with the money, she said "if you do, that's great. If you don't, then 'Merry Christmas.'" She couldn't have been nicer about it.

Anyway, rest assured that, if you're reading this after 8 am or so, that TigerBlog has settled his debt — with a significant tip. And had another omelette.

How nice was that of her though, right? 

TigerBlog has never been a fan of cold weather, so some December days in Central Florida have been quite welcome. The temperature was right around 70 yesterday and will approach 80 the next two days.

As he mentioned yesterday, he's here for the Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches' Association, which began yesterday with a full day of meetings. His role is on the NCAA rules committee, which met in the morning and then made a presentation to the full coaching body for Divisions I, II and III in the afternoon about this year's rules changes and points of emphasis and what might be ahead.

There are more meetings today, and then Saturday night is the IMLCA Hall of Fame dinner, at which Princeton's legendary coach Bill Tierney will be one of the inductees. Coach T, of course, was long ago inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the IMLCA one is a relatively new one. 

Meanwhile, back in the Northeast, there are two Princeton athletic events today. The men's hockey team is at Sacred Heart, as TB mentioned yesterday.

In addition, the wrestling team is at Rutgers. This has become a great local wrestling rivalry, and nobody epitomizes New Jersey wrestling quite like Tiger head coach Joe Dubuque, a two-time high school state champion at Glen Ridge High in North Jersey before going to win two NCAA titles at Indiana.

If you know Coach Dubuque at all, you know he's all in on this event. Dubuque's first match as Tiger head coach was against his alma mater. His second is now against the in-state Big Ten rival. 

Rutgers comes in ranked 13th in the country, and every wrestler in the lineup is ranked. 

This is from the preview story: 

The upcoming dual between Rutgers and Princeton will be their 86th meeting since the 1930-31 season. In the all-time series, Rutgers is ahead with a record of 46 wins, 34 losses, and 5 ties, having secured victories in 24 of the last 25 matchups. Last season, the Scarlet Knights barely edged the Tigers with a 17-16 victory at Jadwin Gymnasium.

The match begins at 6 at Jersey Mike's Arena.

The next two basketball games are in the Philadelphia area, with the men at St. Joe's Sunday at 1 and the women at Villanova Monday at 7. 

TigerBlog has a feature story coming out soon about Caden Pierce of the men's team and Ellie Mitchell of the women's team and their ridiculous ability to rebound. The story is packaged with a video of the two.

The most amazing thing about the story, or at least about the interviews for the story, is how much the two have in common. For that matter, there were many times that Pierce and Mitchell answered a question with the exact same words.  

Not to give it all away, but the bottom line appears to be that if you want to be a great rebounder, a good place to start is by being the youngest child with only older brothers.

Hello From Florida

TigerBlog brings you greetings from Orlando.

He's here for two reasons: 1) NCAA men's lacrosse rules committee meeting and 2) Bill Tierney's induction in the IMLCA Hall of Fame Saturday night. 

Okay. Three reasons. It's warm here. 

He came down yesterday on his first experience since being TSC Pre-Check certified. He applied online last week and made an appointment. When he was there, he was told it could take up to 60 days before he'd hear back and to not contact TSA until 60 days had passed.

Then he got an email the next day with his TSA Pre-Check number. If you've ever flown out of the Orlando airport, then you can appreciate the value of having a pre-check number.

He flew out of Newark yesterday morning. As he waited as his gate, he heard an announcement from an adjacent gate that said something along the lines of "we won't have to get a different aircraft after all. Maintenance says that the problem is fixed."

Is that encouraging? 

As for his own gate, the announcement for boarding did not say "Orlando." No, instead it said "now boarding flight to Mickey Mouse."

TB has never been to Disney World. Apparently there were people on his plane who have been and are going again.

Also, last year there was a youth cheerleading festival at the same hotel as the lacrosse convention, and apparently that's the case again. The flight seemed to be fairly well stocked with parents and children who can't wait to get the cheering going. They even had some in the airport by the gate.

TigerBlog was in seat 40F on his flight yesterday. When the plane landed, literally everyone around him stood up as soon as the seat belt sign went off. Yeah, no. What does that say about human nature? 

This is TB's second year of a four-year rules committee term. Last year was a non-change year, so this year figures to be a bit more interesting. TB brought his rules suggestions with him to Florida.

What could possibly be more fun than talking lacrosse rules? TB would have to say that if there has ever been a perfect match of a person and task, it's he and the men's lacrosse rules committee. 

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Speaking of lacrosse, is 700 pounds a lot? 

That's the amount that Princeton men's lacrosse sophomore face-off man Andrew McMeekin deadlifted the other day. Seven hundred pounds? 

McMeekin, who made the all-tournament team last year as Princeton won the Ivy tournament, is a bit of a moose. TigerBlog asked Matt Madalon last year if McMeekin could play another position besides face-off, and when Madalon asked which one, TB said "linebacker?"

Anyway, TB did a search for things that weigh 700 pounds. This is what he learned:

* a vending machine
* a V8 engine
* an ATM machine
* a 14-20 foot sailboat
* 110 bricks
* an unloaded U-Haul trailer
* two NFL offensive tackles

In other words, 700 pounds is a lot, and Andrew McMeekin is one strong individual.

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The Princeton Athletic calendar is pretty thin for the rest of the month, with final exams and holidays and such. Between today and New Year's Eve, there are only 18 remaining competitions for the Tigers. 

One of them is today, when the men's hockey team heads to Sacred Heart to play the first end of a home-and-home. 

When the schedule first came out, TB wanted to go to the game at Sacred Heart, which is TigerBlog Jr.'s alma mater. It's always fun to have a Princeton-SHU matchup.

Also, Sacred Heart has a relatively new rink that is supposed to be beautiful. The Pioneers have been in and out of the Top 20 for the last few years.  

This year's edition is 8-6-0, 8-3-0 in the American Hockey Conference. These will be fourth and fifth meetings in the series and first in 10 years.

Face-off at SHU is at 7 tomorrow night, and then teams then meet against at Baker Rink at 7 Saturday night. That game will be the second game of a Baker Rink doubleheader, with the women against Quinnipiac at 3.

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Lastly, TB leaves you with this photo, which needs no explanation to Princeton fans:

Top Four In The Pool.

Here's what TigerBlog doesn't get about the College Football Playoff: Why not Ohio State? 

The Buckeyes have one loss, on the road at No. 1 Michigan, by a 30-24 score. Where was Ohio State in the conversation? 

It's obvious that since Texas beat Alabama then Texas needed to get in ahead of the Crimson Tide. The committee decided to take both of them.

Florida State was unbeaten but left out. Georgia has one loss, to Alabama, and is also left out. 

Those were the top six. Ohio State? 

TB doesn't have any idea how you can say that Texas has a better resume. Ohio State has wins over Penn State and Notre Dame and only the close lose to Michigan, who is a clear No. 1. Texas beat Alabama, but the Longhorns also lost 34-24 to Oklahoma, who isn't ranked in the top 10.

This isn't to say that Ohio State is a slam dunk, or that Alabama can't win it all. Wouldn't that be wild, especially since the Crimson Tide was a fourth-and-goal from the 31 away from losing to Auburn? For Ohio State not to be mentioned? Very surprising.

To be fair, this wouldn't have been a fun year to be on the selection committee, not with an unbeaten Florida State team that isn't very good right now, a whole bunch of 12-1 teams and an expanded tournament on its way next year. 

Once the games start, the focus will shift anyway. To quote BrotherBlog: "Go Huskies."

Then there's the NCAA men's water polo tournament. You really have to hand it to the people who seeded that one.

The format is to seed the top four and then create matchups from there. The top four seeds were UCLA, Cal, USC and Princeton, in that order. 

One of those, as they say, is not like the others.

The first round saw the top four all win easily, and by margins that were in descending order by seed. UCLA beat Biola by 13. Cal beat Fordham by 10. USC beat San Jose State by eight. Princeton beat UC-Irvine by five (12-7).

That set up the semifinal round, where UCLA beat Princeton 17-13 and Cal beat USC 10-9. That left Sunday's championship game, where Cal beat UCLA 13-11.

Princeton's season was remarkable. The Tigers went 28-6 on the year, setting a program record for wins. And there were some big names in the win column, including UC-Irvine twice.

In fact, of those 28 wins, there were 14 against teams who were ranked. There was also a two-goal regular season loss at UCLA as well, and the Tigers led the NCAA semifinal game 8-7 at the break.

Princeton also won its third-straight Northeast Water Polo Conference championship, becoming the first team to win three straight East titles since Navy from 2006-08.

Roko Pozaric finished the season with 76 goals, the fourth best total in program history. He'll enter his senior year 48 goals away from the career record of 254, held since 2005 by John Stover. 

This was more than just the Roko Show. There were seven players with at least 30 goals, and goalies Kristof Kovacs and West Temkin are both excellent. This is a team in every sense of the word as well. 

Once again, the NCAA water polo final matched two teams from California. There's never been a final that hasn't.

Getting into that mix is not easy, and you have to give head coach Dusty Litvak a ton of credit for where the program is now. 

TigerBlog started today talking about the College Football Playoff, and to most fans of college athletics, it's about football and basketball. Schools have made geographically ridiculous realignment moves based on the money that football can bring in.

For TB, though, the great part is about all of the other sports and all of the other athletes who do what they love to do, far away from the huge spotlight. As he watched the Alabama-Georgia SEC championship game the other day, he texted a friend and Princeton alum and said that this is the kind of event that he'll never experience in his career, but still he wouldn't have wanted to work anywhere but Princeton.

Teams like Princeton men's water polo in 2023 is exactly why. He'll take that over the College Football Playoff any day.

MBB Facts

Coming soon to goprincetontigers.com will be TigerBlog's feature story on Ellie Mitchell and Caden Pierce and their ridiculous ability to rebound.

He doesn't want to give it all away, but he will tell you these facts:

1) Mitchell and Pierce between them have 55 double figure rebounding games. For the entire decade of the 1980s and the 1990s in Princeton men's basketball, there were 48 double figure rebounding games.

2) Since the start of last year, Mitchell and Pierce have 35 double figure rebounding games. That's more than Princeton's men had in either the 1980s or 1990s.

3) Mitchell is on pace to the be the all-time leading rebounder in Princeton women's basketball history. Pierce is on pace to be the all-time leading rebounder in Princeton men's basketball history.

As for the rest, it'll be on the webpage soon.

Meanwhile, here are some other Princeton men's basketball facts:

* Princeton is ranked No. 8 in Division I in the NET rankings. 

* Princeton is one of 15 unbeaten teams in the country.

* Princeton has more road wins than any other team in the country.

Okay, one more:

Princeton is 8-0 for the fourth time in program history and first since 1966-67. A win in the next game would match the best start the Tigers ever, and you have to go back a long, long way to see the last time, as in 1914-15 and 1919-20 seasons. 

Perhaps recent graduate Hobey Baker saw the 1914-15 Tigers play? 

Princeton can tie the record tonight at 7 in Jadwin Gym, when it takes on the Drexel Dragons. Next up after that is another Philadelphia opponent, St. Joe's, on the road Saturday at 1. 

Drexel comes in at 5-3 after defeating Villanova 57-55 at the Big Five Classic Saturday. The Dragons are used to playing close games; of their eight so far, three have been decided by two points, one was decided by six and another was decided by seven in overtime.

Princeton, of course, won a thrilling 70-69 game against Furman Saturday afternoon, taking its only lead of the second half when Matt Allocco hit a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds to play. Princeton had trailed by 11 with less than five minutes to play in that one, which came a few days after the Tigers rallied from 11 down in the second half to beat Bucknell.

By the way, speaking of buzzer beaters in the Ivy League and Big Five Classic, Penn lost 93-92 in overtime to La Salle Saturday on a halfcourt shot at the buzzer, one that looked similar to Furman's last gasp that almost went in.

And Princeton and Penn's endings seemed routine compared to what happened in the Yale-Vermont game. The Bulldogs were up by five after making two foul shots with three seconds left and lost in regulation. How? Vermont went end-to-end for a layup, making it a three-point game, and then got the ball back when Yale was called for an offensive foul on the inbound. Vermont's T.J. Long then took an inbounds pass, got fouled, banked in his three to tie it and them made the winning foul shot with 0.3 seconds to go. 

That's an extraordinary ending.

Drexel's win over Villanova fairly closely mirrored its season stats. Amari Williams scored 12 points to lead the team (that's just below his average) and nobody else was in double figures (nobody besides Williams averages double figures). 

The Dragons defend well and rebound well. If TB had to guess, he'd say it will probably be another close one. 

These are the kinds of games that you love to play at this time of year. They are exciting, and they definitely test you. They also pay off in a big way when you get into the league, which like every other year will be wildly unpredictable. 

For Princeton, the league opener comes up Jan. 6 at Jadwin against Harvard. There are only five more games between now and then, with the two against the Philly teams, home games against Byrn Athyn (Dec. 13) and Delaware Valley (Dec. 22) and then at Delaware (Dec. 30).

You'll want to take advantage of every opportunity you have to see these Tigers play. 

So far this season, they've more than been worth the price of admission.

What A Saturday Afternoon In Jadwin

The 2023 Sweet 16 banner for the Princeton men's basketball team was officially unfurled Saturday afternoon.

Then the current Tigers went out and showed that the magic didn't run out when the run last March ended. How else to explain Princeton's wildly entertaining 70-69 win over Furman at Jadwin Gym Saturday afternoon. 

Matt Allocco, once again, made the biggest shot of the day, a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left that gave the Tigers the winning points. Those would be the only 4.2 seconds of the second half in which Princeton had the lead.

The win improved Princeton to 8-0 for the first time since 1966-67. Gary Walters, the point guard on that 1966-67 team, told TB that he didn't realize that he had been part of the last 8-0 team. 

The final play began with a missed layup from Xaivian Lee that Caden Pierce attacked, as he always does, coming down with the ball in traffic, jumping up to stay inbounds and finding Allocco on the perimeter. Allocco then canned his three-pointer for the win.

For the second time this week, Princeton won a game in which it trailed by 11 in the second half, after doing likewise against Bucknell Wednesday night. Against the Bison, Princeton was down by 11 4:49 into the second half. At least there was a lot of time left.

Against Furman, Princeton was down 11 with just 4:10 to play. Maybe the Tigers like a challenge? 

Furman, who beat Virginia in the opening round of last year's NCAA tournament, got a layup from Ben Vanderwal to make it 65-54 game with 4:10 to play. To that point, there was really no reason to suspect that Princeton was about to erupt. It looked all the world like it was going to be one of those days where the three-pointers don't fall (4 for 31 for the day) and you tip your hat to the good team that you played and move on.

And then? It started slowly and happened quickly.

Furman committed a foul to bring the game to the under-four media timeout. Allocco hit two foul shots out of the timeout, but it was still a nine-point game.

This is what Furman's next eight possessions produced:

* missed shot plus a foul that put Princeton on the line on the other end, where Pierce made both, getting it to 65-58
* two made foul shots: 67-58 Furman, 3:18 left
* turnover, Princeton couldn't convert
* foul, Xavian Lee with two made foul shots, 67-60, 2:40 left
* turnover, Pierce basket, 67-62, 2:29 left
* turnover, Lee layup, 67-64, 2:04 left
* turnover, Pierce three, tied 67-67 with 1:38 left
* made basket, 69-67 with 1:23 left

Furman's next two possessions were turnovers again. Princeton then missed five straight shots, four threes and the Lee layup attempt, which led to the Pierce rebound.

Allocco then complete drilled his three, after Princeton had made 3 of its first 30. Allocco had been 0 for 4. You go from an 0 for 4 day to hitting the game-winning three with four seconds to play? 

That's a gutsy win by a gutsy team that is playing with extraordinary confidence. Pierce had a 22-point, 15-rebound day. Who has those numbers consistently?

Lee had 24 more points, giving him 152 for the first eight games. A year ago, as a freshman, Lee had 152 points for the season.

And speaking of a year ago, Princeton honored its Sweet 16 run before the game, complete with a banner unveiling. Perhaps what's been going on so far is a product of that experience, even without the impact players who graduated, one of whom is averaging nearly 16 a game in the G-League and another who had 20 points in Northwestern's win over No. 1 Purdue this week.

Next up for Princeton is a home game Tuesday against Drexel. 

What will the Tigers do for an encore?

Pool Play

As TigerBlog walked into Jadwin Gym yesterday morning, he walked past the Cal State-Bakersfield swimming and diving teams, who were leaving DeNunzio Pool after a morning workout in advance of this weekend's Big Al Invitational.

It has to be a bit of culture shock for the Roadrunners, who swim in an outdoor pool in California, to come east for an early December event. At the same time, TB thought about how these swimmers were here while Princeton has a team competing in an outdoor pool in California this weekend as well.

According to TigerBlog's colleague Joey Maruschak, the men's water polo team left Newark Airport for its flight to California for the NCAA tournament Wednesday night at 7:59.

Not 8:00. No, exactly 7:59.

TB did some research and came across this great quote from a 2022 story: 

“Having worked at various airlines, I can tell you if you apply logical thinking to almost anything that the airline industry does, you’ll drive yourself crazy,” said Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Atmosphere Research Group who joined Marketplace to explain how scheduling works.  

Henry also had this to say: 

“When I worked at Continental, we sent a flight from Houston to New York at 2:12 in the afternoon because that was the New York area code,” Harteveldt said.

TigerBlog could actually understand the seemingly random start times if he thought that planes would actually push back from the gate at that time. He's guessing whatever the listed start time, the plane pushes back exactly at that moment about one percent of the time. 

Oh well. Given the complexities of airline travel, you just have to accept that this system gets you from where you are to where you're going as seamlessly as it does.

Princeton flew out to Los Angeles in advance of the NCAA tournament, which starts today at the University of Southern California. The Tigers are the No. 4 seed in an eight-team field, and they will take on UC-Irvine today at 5 Eastern.

The winner of the game between the Tigers and the Anteaters will take on the winner of No. 1 UCLA and Biola tomorrow at 5 Eastern. The final will match that winner with the team that emerges on the other side of the bracket, with No. 2 Cal and Fordham and No. 3 USC and San Jose State, Sunday at 6 Eastern.

All but three players on the UC-Irvine team are homegrown Californians. The others come from Greenwich, Conn., McLean, Va., and Belgrade, Serbia. The teams played once already this year, and Princeton took that one 11-9 in Irvine's pool. 

There are no consolation games for the teams that don't advance. Should Princeton lose this game today 100-0, what the Tigers have done in earning the No. 4 seed is extraordinary in itself. 

The NCAA water polo tournament for men dates to 1989. How many times in all those years has a team from a state other than California won? 

If you said "zero," you'd be correct. For Princeton to be able to make this kind of national impact is an amazing achievement of its own.

Speaking of NCAA tournaments, you may recall that Princeton's men's basketball team had itself quite a run in last year's event. Had it not been for that, and for FDU and Florida Atlantic, then Furman would be remembered much more for what it did last March as well.

The Paladins pulled off what in most years would have been an upset for the ages, taking down Virginia 68-67 in the opening round. In case you forgot how it happened, this is from the recap:

Down 67-63 with 12 seconds remaining, Furman's Garrett Hien converted on two free throws to cut the deficit to two points. Furman trapped the Cavaliers on the inbounds pass and Hien intercepted Kihei Clark's pass near midcourt. He fed the ball to JP Pegues on the right wing and the Nashville, Tenn., product buried the go-ahead triple to put the Paladins in front. Following a timeout, Virginia got the ball in the hands of Reece Beekman but his last-second heave from long range missed off the back iron as time expired.

That's doing it the hard way. Furman lost in Round 2 to San Diego State, who made it all the way to the national final before losing to UConn.

Furman comes to Jadwin Gym tomorrow at 2 for what should be a very entertaining game. The Paladins are scoring just under 85 points per game, including 18 by Pegues and 22 from 6-4 guard Marcus Foster.

Princeton comes in at 7-0, for the first time since 1997-98. The last time Princeton was 8-0? Hint - the team's point guard was none other than Gary Walters, in the 1966-67 season.

The women, off that dramatic double overtime win over Seton Hall Wednesday night, are at Rhode Island Sunday at 1.