Current Record—11-5
Poll Ranking—17th in the nation (NFHCA)
Remaining Games—Columbia, Nov. 9
Field Size—16
Selection Show—Nov. 12 (Internet Broadcast)
Good News—The Crimson played one of the tougher schedules in its region and earned convincing wins over NorPac regular season champion California and American East regular season co-champion New Hampshire. Provided Northeastern and Boston College win their conference tournaments, Harvard should be the top team under consideration from its region.
Bad News—Harvard’s only victory over a current top-20 team is against No. 19 BU, who barely belongs in the top 20, anyway. A head-to-head loss to Boston College could loom large since the two teams were fairly comparable prior to that defeat. Harvard has a worse record against common opponents than Iowa, another bubble team.
History Tells Us—Harvard can still in without a single marquee win. It did it in 2000. The Crimson got in that season, comfortably no less, over fairly comparable teams from other regions.
How to Get In—A lot has to go right for Harvard, besides beating Columbia. The top 12 teams in the current NFHCA poll appear to be locks. Three spots will go to the Big East champion and the winners of two play-in games. That leaves one spot for about five teams in serious contention—BC, Central Michigan, Iowa, Harvard and William & Mary. The Crimson will need BC to win the Big East, all the other four teams to do absolutely nothing to distinguish themselves in their conference tournaments and no other surprises in conference tournaments across the nation to have a chance. In other words, the Crimson’s fate couldn’t be much further out of its own hands.
M. Soccer Breakdown
Current Record—8-5-1
Current Ranking—7th in New England (NSCAA)
Remaining Games—Columbia, Nov. 9, & Penn, Nov. 16
Field Size—48
Selection Show—Nov. 18, 4:30 p.m., ESPNEWS
Good News—The Crimson still has plenty of soccer left to play to distinguish itself. Columbia is second in the New York region, while Penn is first in the Mid-Atlantic region. Harvard has solid wins over Holy Cross (No. 4 New England) and Yale (No. 7 New England) already.
Bad News—Wins against Penn and Columbia are not going to come easily. The team has struggled as Kevin Ara and Mike Lobach have been out with injuries. The two losses against Princeton and Dartmouth these past two weeks have turned the next two week’s games into must-wins. Harvard had a midweek game against Boston College (No. 2 New England) cancelled earlier this season. That hurts, because it denied the Crimson another chance to distinguish itself.
History Tells Us—The men’s tournament, because it only has 48 teams, is that much harder to get into. Harvard was the only Ivy team to make NCAAs at-large last year with a 10-4-1 record.
How to Get in—Beating Penn and Columbia will be enough for the Crimson to make the tournament. Harvard’s NCAA chances are better than its regional ranking might indicate. A split with Penn and Columbia, however, and Harvard will need help.
—Staff writer David R. De Remer can be reached at remer@fas.harvard.edu.