A word on the Division III opponents...

Cornell is facing a pair of Division III teams, Clarkson and Penn State-Erie (Behrend College) on its 2009-2010 schedule. First off, it is crucial that Cornell respects these opponents. For these opposing schools, Cornell is the highlight of their schedule and nothing would make them happier than beating a D-I program, especially a team coming off two NCAA Tournament appearances.

These D-III games are not automatic Big Red wins. Division III teams have knocked off Ivy League teams in recent years. But there are still several advantages for facing these underdog D-III opponents.

• The opponents do not negatively impact the RPI as the case would be with a struggling D-I program with an RPI rating in the 300s such as Monmouth or NJIT.
  
• If Cornell builds a substantial lead, the Big Red can work on specific offensive and defensive sets and take certain risks that the team might not take in a tight game against a Division I opponent.
  
• If Cornell builds a substantial lead, Cornell's younger players and reserves can gain valuable playing time.

Cornell coach Steve Donahue, a former Division III player himself at Ursinus College, previously told the Ithaca Journal his reasons for scheduling these D-III games.

“I liked scheduling Division III because I'm a Division III guy, and I like that,” he said. “I don't necessarily like the game for me, for us, here. I will say this — everybody does them all over the country. Higher levels buy 13 home games. We can't get anybody to come play us in a home-and-home. This is the only way we can get a home game, otherwise we'll be on the road and it's not fair for these guys to be constantly on the road.”

He added, "You've got to respect that you're not going to blow them out on the first possession of the game. You're going to have to play a solid 40 minutes of basketball.”