2014-15 Ivy League Basketball Power Rankings Week 3
Another week has come and gone in the 2014-15 College Basketball season and that means another edition of Ivy League Power Rankings! It was an excellent week for the Ivy League including an 8-0 record on Friday, December 5 and Saturday, December 6. Here is a look back at the Ivy League Power Rankings from week two:
| Week 2 (11/23 – 11/29) | |||
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous Week |
| 1 | Harvard | 4-1 | 1 |
| 2 | Yale | 5-2 | 2 |
| 3 | Columbia | 4-1 | 3 |
| 4 | Cornell | 4-4 | 4 |
| 5 | Brown | 2-5 | 6 |
| 6 | Dartmouth | 1-2 | 7 |
| 7 | Princeton | 1-5 | 5 |
| 8 | Penn | 0-5 | 8 |
Last week it was noted that half the league was at .500 or better and that is still the same. The one slight difference is that Cornell has now forged above .500. The bottom half of the league improved from 4-17 overall to 11-21. The Ivy League went 14-5 in Week 3, which was slightly better than Week 2 from a win percentage viewpoint. In Week 2, the Ivy League went 11-4 (.733) and week 3 was a 14-5 record (.737). Let’s see if all that winning from the Ivy League shook up the power rankings.
1. Yale Bulldogs (8-2) – We have a new number one team in the 2014-15 Ivy League Basketball Power Rankings. After their upset of the Connecticut Huskies on the road, Yale ascends to the top. Yes, UConn has lost three in a row and have struggled a bit, but they are still a very good team with excellent talent. The Bulldogs also beat Hartford and Bryant last week to go 3-0 for week 3. Then there is the Harvard portion of Yale going up a spot…
2. Harvard Crimson (6-1) – Harvard went 2-0 last week, but their latter game against Vermont is worrisome. They won 64-52 in double overtime, but that is not the part that is scary. The Crimson do not look crisp thus far in the season. Harvard has ample opportunity to move back up to #1 with games at Virginia and Arizona State in the next three weeks.
3. Columbia Lions (5-2) – Columbia had a decent week going 1-1 with a loss to Loyola (MD) and a win over Bucknell. Their defense was awesome against Bucknell, but not so solid against Loyola (MD), a team that was 2-4 entering the game. Even if Columbia won that game, they would not have jumped ahead of Harvard. The Lions need to continue playing solid defense and they will be fine in the Ivy League this season.
4. Cornell Big Red (5-4) – Cornell played only one game and won that game at home against UMass Lowell 71-60. The Big Red were probably safe at number four regardless of the result, but they looked good. In fact, the Big Red tied a season high with 16 assists against UMass Lowell. The Big Red do not play again until December 21, which means they probably will not move barring an amazing effort from a team below them.
5. Princeton Tigers (3-6) – It is clear that Princeton improved in the last week. They went 2-1 with wins over San Jose State and Stony Brook. However, even in their loss to Fairleigh Dickinson they looked good and shot the ball well. The Tigers shot 51.7% from the field and 46.5% from beyond the arc last week. In addition, they put up the three highest assists totals for a game in the three games. One caveat for Princeton is they must continue to play well to keep the competitive #5 slot.
6. Brown Bears (4-6) – The Bears did manage to go 2-1 in the past week, but one of those wins was over a Division 3 school. The other win was over Bryant, who sits at 1-5 this year. In their loss, they were simply crushed in the second half by American U. The Bears need to continue to improve as the season goes on.
7. Dartmouth Big Green (2-4) – It was a tough week for Dartmouth as they went 1-2 with the two losses by a total of 3 points. They lost 65-63 at home to New Hampshire and then blew a late lead to Longwood on the road and lost 74-73. The responded well with a clobbering of Maine 74-51. The close losses can be attributed to the Big Green’s horrid performance from the line. They went 22 of 37 combined in the two games (59.5%). That has to improve if the Big Green are to come out with victories in close games.
8. Penn Quakers (2-5) – The Quakers had an excellent week going 2-0 with both wins coming on the road at Navy and Binghamton. Those two teams sit at 3-14 combined on the season, which does not help the Quakers move out of the cellar. However, the gap has been closed and it is worth noting that four of their 5 losses were by 10 points or less. The Quakers looked better and it showed.
Here is the table for Week 3’s power rankings:
| Week 3 (11/30 – 12/6) | |||
| Rank | Team | Record | Last Week |
| 1 | Yale | 8-2 | 2 |
| 2 | Harvard | 6-1 | 1 |
| 3 | Columbia | 5-2 | 3 |
| 4 | Cornell | 5-4 | 4 |
| 5 | Princeton | 3-6 | 7 |
| 6 | Brown | 4-6 | 5 |
| 7 | Dartmouth | 2-4 | 6 |
| 8 | Penn | 2-5 | 8 |
New for this week is a sortable table that shows the 2014-15 Ivy League Basketball Power Rankings from Preseason through week 3. This will be available going forward as well.
| Team | Preseason | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yale Bulldogs | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Harvard Crimson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Columbia Lions | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Cornell Big Red | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Brown Bears | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Dartmouth Big Green | 4 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Princeton Tigers | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Penn Quakers | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Week Four’s Power Rankings will be posted next Sunday. Be sure to check back often to get recaps of each Ivy League game.