The Case for Cornell Big Red Basketball

We write this Blog because of our passion for a university and its basketball program. Below is our Case for Cornell Big Red Basketball.

If a prospective Division I basketball player wants the best balance of academics, athletics, and social atmosphere in the Ivy League, then Cornell is the choice, hands down.

Cornell teams are called "The Big Red" and Cornell is indeed big in every respect.

Where to start? Well, consider the following.

Cornell is the two-time defending Ivy League Champions in men's basketball. The program is showing no signs of slowing down.

A great environment to play college basketball, last season the Big Red led the Ivy League in home attendance. Cornell's fans known as the "Newman Nation," made Cornell's home gym, Newman Arena, the toughest place to play in the Ivy League. The Big Red have won 21 consecutive home games at Newman, the third longest streak in the country. Teams from the Big East and A-10 will visit Ithaca this season.

Freshman in the Cornell men's basketball program not only get playing time, they thrive. Cornell newcomers have won four of the last seven Ivy League Rookie of the Year awards.

Cornell also plays a big time Division I schedule. For example, this season Cornell will face Kansas, Alabama, Syracuse, Seton Hall, UMass, St. Joseph's, La Salle, Davidson and potentially St. John's. Cornell's schedule also includes participation in the Legends Classic and back-to-back games in Madison Square Garden in the Holiday Festival. No other Ivy League program can offer this level of challenge or national exposure in a schedule.

Because Cornell is located in Ithaca, New York, Cornell does not compete with other Division I or professional basketball teams for the media spotlight. In Central New York, Cornell Basketball is The Show and its players are The Stars.

Players from big time Division I programs regularly transfer to join the Cornell Basketball program. In the last three years, the Big Red welcomed several transfers from the SEC, Big 12, Pac 10, and A-10.

Graduates of Cornell's basketball program are successful in life after Cornell. Some are playing professionally, while others have moved onto prestigious graduates schools and careers in field such as business, medicine and law.

While other Ivy League basketball programs offer Division III-type experiences, the Cornell experience is on a much higher level.

Consider the environment.

Cornell's size gives it the feel of a big time Big 10 or Pac 10 school. The Cornell student body is the largest in the Ivy League and consists of over 20,000 students.

The main campus is in Ithaca, New York. Ithaca looks like what an All-American collegetown should look like. It offers a wide range of social outlets and activity, both on and off the campus.

The Cornell campus, perched on a hill overlooking the town, Lake Cayuga and the surrounding rolling hills is widely considered one of the most if not the most beautiful campus in America. It is also by far the Ivy League's largest campus, consisting of more than 4,000 acres.

By way of comparison, Cornell's campus is more than four times the size of the second largest Ivy League school. In fact, Cornell is larger than most schools in the Pac 10, Big 12, SEC, ACC and Big 10.

Helping add to its larger-than-life image, besides membership in the Ivy League, Cornell is also a member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. Thus, in addition to the Ithaca main campus, Cornell has extension campuses in every county of New York State, including Manhattan, and maintains campus sites in Puerto Rico, Rome, Maine, Washington, D.C., Peru, and Qatar. In short, Cornell's physical reach is unparalleled by its rivals in the Ivy League. And with more than 250,000 living alumni, Cornell also has the largest alumni base in the Ivy League.

Despite its massive size, Cornell's seven undergraduate colleges help break down the University into smaller and more intimate academic communities.

Cornell's academic offering is not rivaled by any school in the Ivy League. The University offers more more majors and more courses than any other school. Not surprisingly, Cornell is often considered as one of the top 15 universities in the world and virtually every academic program is top ranked in its field.

Thanks for reading The Cornell Basketball Blog and... Go Big Red!