It may be lonely at the top, but it's even lonelier at the bottom for the Harvard men's basketball team.

Because for the first time in years, the Crimson cagers are alone at the bottom of the Ivy League basketball standings.

All alone.

Gazing at a sheet of league statistics is a pretty discouraging prospect these days if you're a Harvard fan. Team scoring offense: Harvard last at 50.5 points per league game.

And the bottom line, league record: Harvard last at 1-7.

In each of the past two seasons, just when it looked like they were about to end 80-plus years of frustration, 80-plus years without an Ivy League title, the men cagers have suffered devastating late-season disappointments.

Two years ago, it was a 76-67 loss to Cornell on the final weekend of the season which consigned the Crimson to another could-have-been season.

And last year it was this very Penn-Princeton weekend which marked the beginning of the end of perhaps the most promising--and disappointing--season in Crimson hoop history.

Following an 8-0 non-league start and a 6-2 record in the opening round of league contests, Harvard was atop the Ivy heap and all gussied up for its date with destiny.

Destiny stood Harvard up.

Because a year ago this weekend the Quakers, who would eventually win the Ancient Eight crown, and the Tigers came to Cambridge and defeated the Crimson in front of record Briggs Athletic Center crowds.

The tailspin that began that weekend didn't abate until the season ended with Harvard tied for fourth place in the Ivies at 7-7. Another could-be season had turned into another could-have-been season.

There will be no late-season disappointment this year.

Which gets us back to why the Crimson is all alone at the bottom of the Ivy League, and gets us back to the peculiar nature of this weekend.

Harvard has never won the league crown, but in recent years Dartmouth--the Crimson's travelling partner--has had an unmatched record of dismal league performance.