News and Notes

Below, some evening news and notes...

• From the Daily Pennsylvanian:

Ivy teams in general aren’t irrelevant nationally. Cornell beat Alabama this weekend... Penn has awhile to go before they can be as successful as Cornell is right now,

• From WVBR.com:

Big Red's Big Week

Basketball Looks to Continue Great Start vs UMass

Although Cornell has traditionally been a hockey school and Lynah Rink will welcome two serious contenders this weekend, the week belongs to Cornell basketball. With two more wins, Cornell could complete its greatest non-conference week ever, and put itself in position for a better seed in the NCAA Tournament than in years past.

Tonight is the non-conference game against a good conference that Cornell should win. UMass was picked to finish ninth in the Atlantic 10 and second year coach Derek Kellogg is breaking in some young talent. This is the time of year when youth really struggles.. The Minutemen lost badly in their opener at Central Florida Saturday 84-67. UMass plays a style similar to Cornell's. They spread the floor with guards and look to knock down 3's. They tried 38 treys against Central Florida, and have a deep but young roster. Look for Jeff Foote to have the advantage down low for Cornell against the smaller UMass big men. A Cornell team that typically starts 5 seniors, should have a huge advantage against a UMass team that only has one senior and relies upon freshmen to play big minutes.

The concern for Cornell tonight, as it will be all year, is whether or not this team can stay focused and not get too cocky. The players have been hearing how the Alabama win is the greatest win in the program's history, how they might be able to beat Syracuse next week, how they're gonna win a tournament game. Cornell is incredibly talented, deep and experienced for an Ivy League team, and they're more than capable of beating UMass. But Cornell almost lost to an Alabama team breaking in a new system in its first season under coach Anthony Grant, so a B effort won't cut it.