Cornell Basketball in the News

And yes, yet some more excerpt references to Cornell Basketball in the news media today...

First, the National College Players Association (NCPA), formerly known as the Collegiate Athletes Coalition (CAC), released results of a study which revealed athlete turnover rates (attrition) of the men's basketball teams participating in the NCAA Tournament. Out of 65 teams in the tournament, Cornell had the second fewest losses of players on the roster not due to graduation or the NBA Draft from the '07-'08 season to this season.

"There are many reasons why players do not return to the team, and none of them reflect well on the athletic program," said NCPA President Ramogi Huma. "Athletes may disappear as a result of having their scholarship revoked, transfer to another school because expectations were not met, become academically ineligible, or quit the team, among other reasons."

In the Ivy League, Harvard, Penn and Princeton each lost players in the last year due to players quitting the team and/or transferring.

In other news...

From KMOV.com:

Cornell (21-9, 11-3): This is the only matchup that I know for a fact will happen and my subsequent matchups beyond this are purely speculation. Cornell comes into the tourney with back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time in 110 years.

While they did lose only three games during conference play in the Ivy League, they happen to play in a league that doesn’t give them very many tests throughout the season. They were 0-2 against Top-25 teams during the year and lost to three other current tourney teams (@ No. 9 seed Siena by 18, @ No. 10 seed Minnesota by 17, and @ No. 3 seed Syracuse by 10).

While Cornell has the capability of shooting a high percentage from beyond the arc, (they averaged 41.5 percent for the year) I think Missouri’s pressure defense will force them into a faster paced game than they are used to and will struggle mightily. Prediction: Missouri +17

From Philly.com:

Missouri over 14. Cornell in Boise, Idaho

Some folks think Purdue is the hot team; I think it's the Tigers. Mizzou is ranked 10th in Pomeroy and comes in having won every game it played in the Big 12 Tournament by double digits. They are ranked eighth in the country in most turnovers forced per 100 possessions, and 12th in fewest turnovers given up per 100 possessions.

This is a better Big Red squad than last year's, and they won't come to Boise looking into the headlights the way they did last year in Anaheim. But Mike Anderson's edition of 40 Minutes of Hell will be too much for the Big Red.

And it should be noted that the last time Cornell played a team nicknamed the Tigers away from home, it didn't go so well.