News and Notes: Around the Ivy League, OPENING NIGHT EDITION

Below, some news and notes around the Ivy League...

• Opening night in College Basketball! Here we go!
  

• While the stats are not official, we hear that Cornell whipped Navy in a scrimmage on Saturday by nearly 50 points. Yes, you read that correctly, nearly 50 points. This Big Red team appears to be firing on all cylinders.
  

• Great job by the WVBR crew during Sunday night's interview and preseason show. Guests included assistant coach Kevin App and the tri-captains, Jeff Foote, Alex Tyler and Jon Jaques. WVBR plans on posting an archive of the 1 hour show on its website. In the meantime, here were some of the highlights of the show:

• On the Nonconference Schedule: The captains mentioned they are looking most forward to the Syracuse, Seton Hall, Kansas and MSG games, but noted Louis Dale has spent the last week humming, "Sweet Home Alabama." We all know which game Lou wants to play.
• On the Ivy Schedule: The captains are looking forward to playing Princeton, Penn and Harvard. There were rumors circulating this summer that the Princeton players were saying that they will sweep Cornell this season. Cornell also wants a bit of payback for the controversial loss at Harvard a year ago.
• On Zach Spiker: Jeff Foote noted he was sad to see Spiker go, but understood it was Spiker's dream to be a Division I head coach.
  
• On Mark Coury: The captains noted that the Kentucky transfer is a physical and tough defensive player. He also excels in rebounding and breaking up passing lanes.
• On the Rookies: The captains believe it is too early to tell which, if any, freshman will emerge.
• On 2010-2011: Alex Tyler believes this team should be the favorite next season based on what is coming into the program and what the Big Red have returning.
• As WVBR pointed out, what we as fans really got to see on the show was the friendship and closeness of the team. These guys really enjoy being around one another and team chemistry is crucial for a championship squad.
  

• Harvard Athletics released its season preview.

• Bloomberg.com published a book review of Kathy Orton's Outside the Limelight. The reviewer quotes a passage from Orton and writes, "I probably wasn’t alone in rooting for Cornell in its NCAA tournament first-round appearance last winter."

• The Basketball Times writes with respect to Seton Hall, "a non-conference schedule consisting of St. Peter's, Monmouth, Cornell, Long Island, N.J.I.T., Hartford, UMass, VMI, Temple and Navy won't prepare this young team for league play."

• A pair of Princeton players discuss their summer league experience on the Princeton Athletics site. Also, if you have a question for Tigers head coach, Sydney Johnson, you can submit them to Princeton Athletics.
  

• The New York Post reports on Columbia's place in the Ivy Media Poll.

• We updated our list of televised Ivy League games for the 2009-2010 season. The list can be viewed by clicking this link.

• Opening Week! Here is your first week schedule of Ivy League play.

Friday, November 13
Yale vs. Sacred Heart, 5:30 pm (Connecticut Six)
Brown at St. Francis (N.Y.), 7 pm
Dartmouth at Boston College, 7 pm
Harvard at Holy Cross, 7 pm
Penn at Penn State, 7:30 pm

Saturday, November 14
Princeton at Central Michigan, 1 pm
Cornell at Alabama, 1 pm

Sunday, November 15
Brown at Virginia Tech, 4 pm
William & Mary at Harvard, 2 pm
Dartmouth at George Mason, 4 pm

Monday, November 16
Yale vs. Hofstra, 6:30 pm (NIT)
Penn at Villanova, TBA
Tuesday, November 17
Yale vs. TBD, TBA (NIT)
Columbia at DePaul, 8:30 pm

Wednesday, November 18
Rhode Island at Brown, 7 pm
Manhattan at Princeton, 7 pm
Cornell at UMass 7 pm (Legends Classic)
Friday, November 20
Brown at St. John's, 7 pm
Longwood at Columbia, 7 pm
Seton Hall at Cornell, 7 pm (Time Warner Sports Network)
Bryant at Harvard, 7 pm