BleacherReport.com
It's completely unjustifiable to pick against a reigning champion that returns virtually every vital piece.
For that reason, Cornell was the unanimous No. 1 in the 2009-10 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll.
Ryan Wittman. Louis Dale. Jeff Foote. Geoff Reeves. Alex Tyler.
They're all back for one final season in Ithaca, NY and will not settle for anything less than another Ivy League championship.
It seems nearly impossible for any other Ivy to dethrone the Big Red, but there are three sturdy programs that might have what it takes to earn the Ivy League's bid to the Big Dance.
The Princeton Tigers lack the senior leadership that the Big Red possess, but they were picked as the No. 2 Ivy for a reason. They have a talented backcourt that can wreak havoc from beyond the arc and a deep frontcourt that won't woo you with loud rebounds or rejections but will still do its job.
Sophomore Douglas Davis showed tremendous potential as a freshman, when he averaged 12.3 points per game and shot 36.5 percent from long range. Junior shooting guard Dan Mavraides scored 10.3 points per game and knocked down 42.6 percent of his treys.
While Davis occasionally runs the point, senior Marcus Schroeder is coach Sydney Johnson's floor general. Schroeder is a good ballhandler and, despite a rather low assist average of three per game, is the third best returning Ivy disher. Schroeder connected on an unearthly 22-of-43 three-pointers last season
Johnson has plenty of options in his frontcourt. Pawel Buzcak, Patrick Saunders, Kareem Maddox, and Zach Finley are all solid Ivy big men. None of them compare to Jeff Foote, Cornell's 84-inch giant, but, as a group, they are arguably as deep as the Big Red's frontcourt.
Buzcak and Saunders, who earned more minutes per game in 2008-09 than Maddox and Finley, each have a proclivity towards fouling. With a deep frontcourt, made deeper by the highly touted Will Barrett, foul trouble will not be much of an issue for the Tigers.
Despite having an extremely talented well-balanced core, Penn lacks the experienced depth that Cornell and Princeton possess.
Tyler Bernardini is a great scorer, captain Zack Rosen had an awesome freshman campaign, and the multi-faceted Jack Eggleston provides stats and hustle. Unfortunately for Penn, these three alone cannot carry the Quakers to upsets of higher Ivy opponents on a regular basis.
Depth remains a question mark for the Quakers. After Harrison Gaines transferred and Kevin Egee and Brennan Votel graduated, coach Glen Miller had to find a way to re-attribute the lost 24.9 points per game. Darren Smith, back from a knee injury, and Rob Belcore are expected to help fill the voids of the departed.
Cornell buried the Quakers in both meetings last year, but Penn might pose a threat if it can find depth. If not, the Quakers will be listening to Bill Raftery come March.
Senior Jeremy Lin is the Ivy League's best all-around player and has the ability to carry his Harvard Crimson over higher ranked opponents. After filling the stat sheet with 17.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.4 steals per game in 2008-09, Lin will unite with Tommy Amaker's incredible recruiting class and might be able to squeak his team by the Big Red in one of their two matches.
Forward Keith Wright had an impressive freshman season in which he averaged eight points and 5.5 rebounds per game. Expect Lin and Wright to play an inside-outside game in 2009-10.
Although Harvard returns a fair number of players, too many are sophomores. The combination of too many sophomores and freshmen could be the bane of Harvard's season, but many of them are talented and could help make the Ivy League more competitive than it was in 2008-09.
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