News and Notes

Below, some news and notes...

• The Cornell Club of Boston is hosting a television viewing party for the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival.

• In roster news, Dartmouth senior, Jarrett Mathis has been dropped from the Green's official roster after appearances in four games.

• While we are not making any prediction, don't look now but the winless Penn Quakers (0-7) could legitimately start the season 0-14. Penn's next seven games are extremely daunting with four consecutive road games at Davidson, Duke, Lafayette and UMBC. Penn then returns home for a tough 3-game home stand against A-10 teams, Temple, La Salle and St. Joseph's. On the bright side ,however, Penn has the same record in Ivy play as every other Ivy team... 0 wins and 0 losses and they are still in the NCAA Tournament automatic bid hunt.

• Brad Spencer of the Wednesday Journal Online writes, "When it comes to basketball, I'd rather watch Wichita State take on Cornell than the Denver Nuggets host .... who? The Oklahoma City Thunder?"

• The Philadelphia Daily News writes, "When Fran Dunphy left Penn for Temple after the 2006 season, athletic director Steve Bilsky had several options, including Cornell coach Steve Donahue. He went for [Glen] Miller, which turned out to be the wrong hire at the wrong place at the wrong time. Donahue has won the last two Ivy League championships at Cornell and is a heavy favorite to win a third this season."

• Zag's Blog writes:

CANDIDATES FOR PENN JOB
Sources say there are three leading candidates for the Penn job vacated by the recent firing of Glen Miller. Andy Toole, the associate head coach to Mike Rice at Robert Morris, is the leading candidate, sources say. A Red Bank, N.J. native, Toole was a co-captain of the 2002-03 Penn team that finished 22-6. He helped Penn reach the NCAA tournament in 2002 and ‘03. Cornell coach Steve Donahue, who has led the Big Red to back-to-back NCAA tourney appearances, is also a candidate, as is Philly native Fran O’Hanlon, the Lafayette head coach.

• The Daily Pennsylvanian writes, "O’Hanlon and Donahue’s names will continually be mentioned for the opening but both are in jobs right now that many would consider better than the Penn offering."

• Continue reading this post by taking the link below.

• The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Below is a look at Cornell's RPI rank (as of today, Tuesday, December 15) following a 7-2 start for the Big Red. All of Cornell's opponents are also listed (out of 347 total Division I teams). Cornell's results against these opponents are in parentheses.
  

4. St. John's

7. Syracuse (L)
16. Kansas
25. Cornell
42. Harvard
48. Seton Hall (L)
56. Hofstra
81. La Salle
87. Alabama (W)
94. Princeton
101. Vermont (W)
108. St. Joseph's (W)
161. Davidson
165. Drexel (W)
169. Columbia
170. UMass (W)
179. South Dakota
191. Brown
274. Yale
298. Bucknell (W)
305. Toledo (W)
309. Dartmouth
341. Bryant
345. Penn
NR- Clarkson (D-III)
NR- PSU-Erie (D-III)

• Neither the Ken Pomeroy or Jeff Sagarin rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. Nevertheless, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 70 in the nation, while the Sagarin rankings have Cornell at No. 46. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.
  

• Below are links to our game recaps from each of Cornell's games this season. Associated press recaps courtesy of Rivals.com/YahooSports.com are always available by clicking on Cornell's schedule/results on the right column of this blog.

1. at Alabama (W 71-67)
2. at UMass (W 74-61)
   
3. vs. Seton Hall (L 79-89)
   
4. at Syracuse (L 73-88)
   
5. Toledo (Phil.) (W 78-60)
   
6. Vermont (Phil.) (W 67-59)
   
7. at Drexel (W 61-54)
   
8. at Bucknell (W 104-98)
   
9. vs. St. Joseph's (W 78-66)

• Below, check out results and upcoming action around the Ivy League. (click here for a composite Ivy League schedule) (Click here for a TV schedule of Ivy League games).
  

Friday, November 13
Yale 86 Sacred Heart 92 (Connecticut Six) Box Score - Recap
Brown 68 St. Francis (N.Y.) 64 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 58 Boston College 89 Box Score - Recap
Harvard 87 Holy Cross 77 Box Score - Recap
Penn 55 Penn State 70 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 14
Princeton 71 Central Michigan 68 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 71 Alabama 67 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 15
Brown 55 Virginia Tech 69 Box Score - Recap
William & Mary 85 Harvard 87 (3OT) Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 44 George Mason 60 Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 16
Yale 63 Hofstra 68 (NIT at Storrs CT) Box Score - Recap
Penn 65 Villanova 103 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 17
Yale 65 Colgate 55 (NIT Storrs CT) Box Score - Recap
Columbia53 DePaul 59 [SNY] Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 18
Rhode Island 78 Brown 57 Box Score - Recap
Manhattan 54 Princeton 61 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 74 UMass 61 Box Score - Recap

Friday, November 20
Brown 76 St. John's 79 Box Score - Recap
Longwood 61 Columbia 72 Box Score - Recap
Seton Hall 89 Cornell 79 Box Score - Recap
Bryant 51 Harvard 77 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 21
Army 56 Princeton 52 Box Score - Recap
Dartmouth 60 Furman 83 Box Score - Recap
Delaware 97 Penn 94 2OT Box Score - Recap
Quinnipiac 71 Yale 64 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 22
Maine 62 Brown 75 Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 23
Harvard 53 Army 56 Box Score - Recap
Charlotte 88. Yale 74 NIT Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, November 24
Princeton 50 George Washington 65 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 73 Syracuse 88 Box Score - Recap
Loyola (Md.) 58 Dartmouth 41 Box Score - Recap
Bucknell 59 Columbia 73 Box Score - Recap
Drexel 58 Penn 49 Box Score - Recap
Elon 65 Yale 69 NIT Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, November 25
Brown 70 Bryant 68 Box Score - Recap
New Hampshire 60 Harvard 78 Box Score - Recap

Friday, November 27
Cornell 78. Toledo 60 (Legends Classic at Philadelphia, Pa.) Box Score - Recap
Brown 79 Siena 99 (Philadelphia Hoops Classic) Box Score - Recap
Yale 48 Army 64 Box Score - Recap
Hartford 56 Dartmouth 68 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, November 28
Cornell 67 Vermont 59 (Legends Classic at Philadelphia, Pa.) Box Score - Recap
Brown 79 Siena 99 (Philadelphia Hoops Classic) Box Score - Recap
Yale 48 Army 64 Box Score - Recap
Hartford 56 Dartmouth 68 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, November 29
Cornell 61 Drexel 54 (Legends Classic at Philadelphia, Pa.) Box Score - Recap
Harvard 78 Boston U. 70 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 60 California 81 [CSN California] Box Score - Recap

Monday, November 30
Columbia 55 Sacred Heart 60 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 1
Vermont 63 Dartmouth 58 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 2
Holy Cross 85 Brown 79 (OT) Box Score - Recap
Cornell 104 Bucknell 98 (OT) Box Score - Recap
Yale 48 Hartford 46 Box Score - Recap
Rice 64 Harvard 85 Box Score - Recap

Thursday, December 3
Lehigh 75 Columbia 70 Box Score - Recap
Princeton 44 Rutgers 58 Box Score - Recap

Friday, December 4
Penn 67 Navy 73 [CBS College Sports] Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 5
Columbia 60 Stony Brook 63 Box Score - Recap
Brown 55 Minnesota 91 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 6
Harvard 73 UConn 79 [SNY/ESPN Fullcourt] Box Score - Recap
Lafayette 48 Princeton 62 Box Score - Recap
Cornell 78 St. Joseph's (PA) 66 Box Score - Recap

Monday, December 7
Brown 62 Providence 78 Box Score - Recap
Vermont 72 Yale 60 Box Score - Recap

Tuesday, December 8
Columbia 102 Wagner 91 Box Score - Recap
Albany 78 Penn 60 Box Score - Recap

Wednesday, December 9
Harvard 74 Boston College 67 Box Score - Recap
Bryant 54 Yale 69 Box Score - Recap

Saturday, December 12
Columbia 69 Bryant 57 Box Score - Recap
Army 59 Dartmouth 46 Box Score - Recap
Penn 75 Monmouth 80 Box Score - Recap

Sunday, December 13
Princeton 65 UNC Greensboro 50 Box Score - Recap
Lyndon State 54 Dartmouth 83 Box Score

Wednesday, December 16
Monmouth at Princeton, 7 pm

Thursday, December 17
Dartmouth at Lehigh, 7 pm

Sunday, December 20
Cornell vs. Davidson, Noon [MSG Holiday Festival, Fox Sports Atlantic/MSG]
Dartmouth at New Hampshire, 1 pm
Princeton at Maine, 3 pm

Monday, December 21
Yale at Providence, 7 pm
Cornell vs. St. John's/Hofstra, 7/9 pm [MSG Holiday Festival, Fox Sports Atlantic/MSG]

Tuesday, December 22
Colgate at Dartmouth, 7 pm

Wednesday, December 23
Harvard at Georgetown, noon [ESPN Full Court/ MyTV9/ SNY]
Columbia at Quinnipiac, 7 pm

Monday, December 28
MIT at Harvard, 4 pm
Kean at Brown, 7 pm
Penn at Davidson, 7 pm

Tuesday, December 29
Yale at Colorado, 9 pm [FSN Rocky Mountain]
Cornell at La Salle, 4 pm

Wednesday, December 30
Dartmouth at Quinnipiac, 2 pm [NESN]
Brown at Sacred Heart, 7 pm
George Washington at Harvard, 6 pm
Maine at Columbia, 7 pm
Wagner at Princeton, 7 pm

Thursday, December 31
Yale at Colorado State, 4 pm
Penn St. Erie-The Behrend College at Cornell, 2 pm
Penn at Duke, 6 pm [ESPN2]

Saturday, January 2
American at Brown, 1 pm
Bryant at Cornell, 2 pm
Harvard at Seattle, 5:10 pm
Princeton at St. Joseph's, 2 pm [The Comcast Network]

Sunday, January 3
Penn at Lafayette, 1 pm
Yale at Albany, 4 pm [Time Warner Cable (TW3)]