Will Harvard Challenge Cornell?

Cornell and Harvard have one of the country's most storied hockey rivalries. Now the rivarly could be moving to the hardwood. Both the Big Red and Crimson are receiving a great deal of national media attention in recent weeks due to their strong starts in basketball and the latter are being identified by some writers as a legitimate title challenger to Cornell, the two-time defending conference champions in the Ivy League.

The Big Red are off to a 7-2 start (playing 7 of 9 games away from home). Cornell recorded wins on the road at Alabama (RPI No. 78), UMass and Drexel, while also beating St. Joseph's (RPI No. 80) in Ithaca. Cornell is currently ranked No. 28 in the RPI, No. 10 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 poll and has received votes during the season in both the A.P. and Coaches' Top 25 polls.

Harvard is off to a 6-2 start, led by their senior star, Jeremy Lin, but the Crimson's resume is still very questionable. Harvard has an excellent RPI of No. 63, largely boosted by its tripple overtime home win over William & Mary (RPI No. 13). The Crimson, however, does not have any other top 150 RPI wins. (Cornell actually has three with the Alabama and St. Joseph's Ws along with a victory over No. 127 Vermont).

Harvard also played 4 of its 8 games at home, while a pair of the road games were of the local variety, across town at Boston University and a short trip to Worcester to play at Holy Cross.

While Harvard could be a legit Ivy title contender to challenge Cornell, there still remain some unanswered questions.