Brown and Yale are undefeated in first, Dartmouth is winless in last, and Harvard's tied with Penn and Princeton in the middle.

Such is the state of Ivy League basketball at the outset of league play.

Of course, the Quakers (5-6, 0-0 Ivy) and Tigers (7-7, 0-0) have yet to suit up for a conference game, while the Bears (5-6, 2-0) and the Bulldogs (4-10, 2-0) have enjoyed the spoils of facing the hurting Crimson (7-9, 2-2) and the lowly Big Green (4-10, 0-4).

Following the season-ending eye injury to star junior forward and leading scorer Dan Clemente, the young Harvard squad looked destined for a tough lesson at the hands of a seemingly strong Dartmouth team, led by standout forwards senior Shaun Gee and junior Ian McGinnis.

The Crimson, however, shocked most by defeating the Big Green on December 15, 66-59, and then again on January 8, 48-43, jumping out to a surprising 2-0 start in Ivy League play.

Youth and the lack of Clemente, seems to have finally caught up with Harvard, though, as it dropped contests at Yale and at Brown--69-61 and 78-68, respectively--last weekend to drop to .500 in the Ivy.

Captain Damian Long has played consistently, scoring 14.1points per game (ppg) and junior center Tim Coleman has shown toughness inside, leading the Clemente-less squad with 14.6 ppg and 8.2 rebounds per game (rpg). Freshman point guard Elliot Prasse-Freeman has improved steadily as the season has progressed, and is averaging 6.8 assists per game (apg). Without Clemente, however, the Crimson will likely struggle as their Ivy schedule progresses.

Dartmouth, meanwhile, has proven to be the most overrated team in the league thus far. After being swept by the Crimson to start the Ivy schedule, the Big Green proceeded to fall to both the Bulldogs and Bears last weekend by the scores 71-69 and 79-63, respectively.