2014-15 Ivy League Basketball Power Rankings Week 5
Welcome to the 2014-15 Ivy League Basketball Power Rankings Week 5 edition! It was a slow week for the Ivy League with only 7 games played, but there were some very close and thrilling games (Yale at Vermont on Thursday and Northern Illinois at Dartmouth on Friday). Before we reveal the Week 5 power rankings, let’s take a look back at the Week 4 Power Rankings.
| Week 4 (12/7 – 12/13) | |||
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous Week |
| 1 | Yale | 8-3 | 1 |
| 2 | Harvard | 7-1 | 2 |
| 3 | Columbia | 5-3 | 3 |
| 4 | Cornell | 5-4 | 4 |
| 5 | Brown | 5-6 | 6 |
| 6 | Dartmouth | 3-4 | 7 |
| 7 | Princeton | 3-8 | 5 |
| 8 | Penn | 3-5 | 8 |
We finally have more than 4 teams at or above .500 this week. Five teams are at that point with another team, Brown, just a game below the .500 mark. With only 7 games this past week, that means at least one team did not play. In fact, there were four teams who did not play a game; Harvard, Cornell, Brown, and Penn. Below are the week 5 Power Rankings.
1. Yale Bulldogs (9-4) – Yale played two games and split them with a win at Vermont on Thursday and a loss on Saturday to Albany at home. Matt Townsend’s late jumper beat Vermont, but the Bulldogs could not hold on to a late 7 point lead in the loss to Albany. Yale does not play again until December 30 with a road game at Sacred Heart.
2. Harvard Crimson (7-1) – Harvard did not play in the past week, but they have a big game on Sunday, December 21 at Virginia. A win there would probably vault them back into the top spot.
3. Columbia Lions (6-3) – Columbia played in just one game and it was far from a typical performance. They needed their offense to show up against Hofstra and it did with Maodo Lo scoring 29 points. The Lions posted season highs in points (82), three pointers made (13), and assists (17). It is scary to think about the Lions potential in 2014-15 if they are able to score a lot of points and play stifling defense.
4. Cornell Big Red (5-4) – The Big Red have not played a game since December 6 when they faced UMass Lowell at home. They will play two games in the next week (Dec. 21 and Dec. 23) as they get back on the court after a break.
5. Brown Bears (5-6) – Yet another team that was not in action in the past week. They play on Monday afternoon at Central Connecticut State.
6. Dartmouth Big Green (5-5) – It was a busy week for Dartmouth as they played three games in a five day span. They started with a loss on the road to Jacksonville State (79-67) before rebounding to win their last two games at Mercer (67-51) and Northern Illinois at home (58-55). Despite going 2-1, the Big Green do not move up because of how they blew a double digit lead in regulation. Both Gabas Maldunas (27 points and 10 rebounds against Jacksonville State) and Alex Mitola (18 points against NIU) had big games this week.
7. Princeton Tigers (4-8) – The Tigers played one game and destroyed Lipscomb at home 77-55 on Friday night. Princeton hit a season high 14 three pointers with Clay Wilson scoring a season high 19 points on 5 of 6 three pointers. The Tigers face Liberty on December 22 at home.
8. Penn Quakers (3-5) – Penn was inactive this past week and still occupy the cellar in the Ivy League Power Rankings.
Here are the Week 5 Power Rankings:
| Week 5 (12/14 – 12/20) | |||
| Rank | Team | Record | Last Week |
| 1 | Yale | 9-4 | 1 |
| 2 | Harvard | 7-1 | 2 |
| 3 | Columbia | 6-3 | 3 |
| 4 | Cornell | 5-4 | 4 |
| 5 | Brown | 5-6 | 5 |
| 6 | Dartmouth | 5-5 | 6 |
| 7 | Princeton | 4-8 | 7 |
| 8 | Penn | 3-5 | 8 |
Here is the weekly ranking for each team going back to the preseason. (The table is sortable).
| 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 |
Please feel free to comment below and come back next Sunday for the Week 6 rankings!