Cornell Basketball in the News

The Springfield (Mass.) Republican (and MassLive.com) discusses the Legends Classic and Cornell's game at UMass on November 18. Above, Cornell's Max Groebe, a UMass transfer. The Republican writes:

Mark down Saturday, Nov. 21 on your calendar, Minutemen hoop fans. The Lions are roaring into Amherst ... the Arkansas-Fort Smith Lions, that is.
I am not one to mock of teams like this, just because I am not familiar with them. (I never even knew there was a Fort Smith). Doing so is basketball snobbery, for one thing.

For another, there are some very good players in Division II. Some of them played for Arkansas-Monticello, which outplayed UMass for much of the first half before losing 90-71 last year.

But this game is brought to you by the Legends Classic, which promotes the tournament months in advance, then scrambles to find 12 teams. Last year, UMass played in the 2K Sports Classic, run by the same New Jersey organizing group, and was all set to go to Ann Arbor when they were asked (told?) to go to Southern Illinois at Carbondale, Ill., instead. In agreeing to this switch, UMass was promised a host spot for one of four "pods'' for the 2009 Legends Classic.

Only recently did UMass learn of its opponent for the Nov. 21 game. Initially, it was supposed to be Toledo, and there was brief talk of bringing Bruiser Flint and Drexel to Amherst.

The opponent instead will be the 2006 national junior college champions, who are transitioning to Division II. It's so far off the beaten path that it won't hurt the UMass RPI, but it certainly won't help it, either.

The Nov. 18 Legends game is against Cornell, which is replacing Penn as the class of the Ivy League and also features Max Groebe, who played for UMass two years ago. After these two games, UMass plays Rutgers and either Florida or Michigan State in Atlantic City, N.J. - no matter how they do against Cornell and Ark-Fort Smith.

Yes, that means UMass could lose to Fort Smith but still advance to play Rutgers. And people say the BCS is convoluted.

This gives four games, two at home, and there is value in that. UMass had a tough enough time filling its schedule, even with this weird tournament.

And I'll say this much: after the NCAA Elite Eight in Springfield, the Legends Classic is the best thing going for Division II teams in Arkansas. Welcome to Division I, Lions ... er, Division II.