Princeton returns all but one starter from a team that went 13-1 in the Ivy League a year ago. Penn has some rebuilding to do, but reloading might be a better term for it. Yale has a dangerous starting five, but its bench is a bit suspect. The rest of the Ivies are up in the air as Brown, Cornell, Columbia and Harvard will all battle for the fourth spot. Dartmouth should remain mired in the basement of the Ivy League standings for a second straight season.

No. 1 PRINCETON

Last Year’s Record : 20-8 (13-1)

The 2003-2004 edition of the Princeton basketball team won 14 of its final 15 regular-season games to take the Ivy title for the third time in four seasons. After losing just guard Ed Persia to graduation, not only does it seem the Tigers have the inside track to make it four of five, but the squad might also have a shot to crack the top 25. The Tigers already played No. 6 Syracuse tough and will have two other opportunities—against Rutgers and Duke—to make a national statement. Coach Joe Scott comes back to Princeton from Air Force, taking over for John Thompson III, who moved on to Georgetown. Scott has an intimate knowledge of the Princeton offense, so the transition should be relatively seamless.

No. 2 PENN

Last Year’s Record : 17-10 (10-4)

It’s never fair to say that Penn is rebuilding. The Quakers don’t rebuild: they reload. Sophomore point guard Ibrahim Jaaber and classmate Mark Zoller are ready to make a huge contribution to the club after posting outstanding rookie campaigns. Tim Begley shot the lights out last season hitting 46 percent of his three-point attempts. With Jeff Schiffner gone, Begley will get even more looks from long range, but the attention should shift to the senior guard, which should force his three-point percentage to take a bit of a hit. Penn should have little trouble racking up 10 Ivy wins, but challenging the Tigers for the league title will prove far more difficult.

No. 3 YALE

Last Year’s Record : 12-15 (7-7)

Despite losing Matt Minoff and Paul Vitelli to graduation, Yale might still have the best starting five in the Ivy League this season. Edwin Draughan, Alex Gamboa and Casey Hughes comprise one of the top backcourts in the league. Sam Kaplan and Dominick Martin provide the Bulldogs with a formidable frontcourt. But the weakness clearly lies in the bench, and that should keep Yale from challenging for the league title. The Bulldogs faded late last season, dropping out of contention midway through the Ivy slate and stumbling to a 7-7 finish. Don’t expect a repeat performance of last season, as Yale is clearly better than the logjam of teams vying for fourth.

No. 5 CORNELL

Last Year’s Record : 11-16 (6-8)

The Ka’ron Barnes era is over at Cornell, leaving behind a group of solid shooters and role players who will need to fill a huge void. Lenny Collins and Cody Toppert will be the new keys on offense, but neither has the scoring ability of Barnes. Air Force transfer Ryan Rourke should help out immediately on the offensive end of the floor, and Eric Taylor will be called upon to anchor the interior. Cornell has the talent to make a push for that last upper division spot behind Princeton, Penn and Yale, especially if Rourke makes as big of an impact as many of the Ithaca faithful are hoping he will. But in the end, the loss of Barnes will be far too much for the Big Red to handle, and it’ll struggle to match last season’s 6-8 Ivy record.

No. 6 COLUMBIA

Last Year’s Record : 10-17 (6-8)

With wins in four of its last six games, Columbia takes a great deal of momentum into the 2004-2005 season. Freshman center Ben Nwachukwu has Morningside Heights buzzing and forwards Matt Preston and Dragutin Kravic present a formidable challenge in the frontcourt. But the key to the Lions’ success lies in the backcourt—more specifically, three-point shooting. Columbia finished second in the league with a 38.2 conversion percentage from behind the arc, and third in the league in three-point defense, holding opponents to a 32.7 percentage. The Lions still don’t have the talent to challenge the big three of Princeton, Penn and Yale, but they should find themselves in the thick of the race for the fourth spot.

No. 7 BROWN

Last Year’s Record : 14-13 (10-4)

How can a 10-4 team, which has the reigning Ivy League Player of the Year, possibly fall from second to seventh in the league standings in just one season? Brown coach Glen Miller might have found an answer to this question by suspending that star player—senior point guard Jason Forte—indefinitely for “conduct detrimental to the team.” The term “indefinitely” has thrown a lot of Ivy predictions into disarray, as the Bears’ Ivy finish depends on Forte’s presence on the floor. It will be very interesting to see how long Forte spends on the sidelines, because if that hiatus extends into the Ivy season, look for Brown to sink to the bottom of the standings.

No. 8 DARTMOUTH

Last Year’s Record : 3-25 (1-13)

An 18-game losing streak to end a season is enough to put any coach’s job in jeopardy. Dave Faucher knew that he’d be fired at season’s end, so he went ahead and resigned with six games left to go in Dartmouth’s 2003-2004 campaign. After an exhaustive search, the Big Green brought in Terry Dunn, who left his position as an assistant at Colorado to take the reins at Dartmouth. Dunn could be in a lot of trouble right off the bat, as star guard Leon Pattman will miss the start of the season with a groin injury that might sideline him for the whole season. Even with Pattman, it would be tough for this Big Green squad to climb out of the Ivy cellar, but without him, things could get ugly.