DATE & TIME: Saturday, November 14th, 2:00 p.m. (et)
FACTS & STATS: Site: Coleman Coliseum (15,316) -- Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Television: None. Home Record: Cornell 0-0, Alabama 0-0. Away Record: Cornell 0-0, Alabama 0-0. Neutral Record: Cornell 0-0, Alabama 0-0. Conference Record: Cornell 0-0, Alabama 0-0. Series Record: Alabama leads, 1-0.
GAME NOTES: The 2009-10 season begins this afternoon for the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Cornell Big Red as the two square off at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa.
Behind a talented group of sophomores, the Big Red won its first Ivy League title in 20 years with a perfect 14-0 campaign in 2007-08. Those same players led Cornell to the Ancient Eight crown last season, marking the first time in league history that a school other than Penn or Princeton repeated as outright champions. All five starters are back from last year's 21-win club, so the Big Red is obviously a heavy favorite to three-peat.
The Anthony Grant era begins for Alabama today. Grant was 76-25 in three years at Virginia Commonwealth, so he brings a winning track record to Tuscaloosa. There is significant returning talent in the fold, and although the Tide is overshadowed by some higher profile teams in the loaded SEC, there is reason for optimism.
Alabama won the only previous meeting with Cornell, taking a 107-84 decision on December 1, 1972 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the season opener for both teams.
Leading head coach Steve Donahue's veteran Cornell squad is the All-Ivy duo of Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale. The 5-11 Dale was voted the 2007-08 Ivy League Player of the Year and he brings a variety of skills to the table, producing 13.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 3.6 apg a season ago. As for the 6-6 Wittman, he has led Cornell in scoring each of the last three seasons, including an average of 18.5 ppg last year, and is just 231 points shy of the school's all-time scoring record. The duo will be accompanied today by seven-foot center and Second Team All-Ivy selection Jeff Foote. The reigning Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, Foote is an intimidating force who averaged 11.8 ppg and 7.2 rpg last season. Chris Wroblewski also took home some hardware last season, as the 6-0 guard was voted the league's Rookie of the Year after averaging 6.7 ppg off the bench. He was the Ivy's top three-point shooter, hitting on 44 percent of his chances. Because of all of those highly-skilled players, Cornell will not be a pushover in this game, or any for that matter.
The good news for coach Grant is that there is plenty of talent to work with in his first year, namely the trio of Mikhail Torrance, Senario Hillman and JaMychal Green. Torrance scored 10.0 ppg as a junior, but the 6-5 guard needs to prove that he is capable of running the team from the point. He dished out seven assists in a recent exhibition game, a good sign for sure. Hillman is a freakishly athletic guard who averaged 12.9 ppg a year ago. If Hillman can learn to play the game half as well as he dunks, 'Bama will be a force. Green rounds out the trio with 10.3 ppg and 7.6 rpg, numbers that figure to get a boost with a year of experience under his belt. Alabama finished eighth in the 12-team SEC in both scoring offense and defense a season ago. Just by the presence of the three players mentioned, those rankings should improve.
Expect a close game in this opener, as Cornell is talented and experienced. Give the nod to the Tide, however, based on athletic ability and the home crowd.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Alabama 81, Cornell 73
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