Co-captain Jeremy Lin leads the Crimson tonight against Columbia in a sold-out affair in New York City. The Lions took down Harvard at home last season on a last-second jumper by guard Kevin Bulger. The second night of the back-to-back will find the Crimson in Ithaca to take on hoops powerhouse Cornell in a match-up that has captivated the national media.

New York, New York.

According to Frank Sinatra, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

It’s a fitting lyric for the Harvard men’s basketball team, which knows that the road to its first Ivy League championship and just its second NCAA tournament appearance ever—the other coming in 1947—runs through Ithaca, New York.

After a Friday night date in the city with the Columbia Lions, the Crimson will take on the two-time defending Ivy champion Cornell Big Red tomorrow night in a match-up that’s getting an enormous amount of publicity for an Ivy League basketball game due to the two teams' success.

Both Cornell and Harvard are having phenomenal seasons that have seen them knock off big programs while receiving votes multiple times in the national polls. The Crimson (13-3, 2-0 Ivy) has impressive wins over Boston College and William & Mary, while the Big Red (16-3, 2-0) has taken down Alabama and St. John’s. But it may have been in their losses in which the two teams have been the most impressive. Cornell led then-No.1 Kansas for most of their game before eventually falling by five, while Harvard hung tough with then-No.13 Connecticut before losing by six.

It’s rare for an Ivy League team to possess such an impressive resume—let alone two in the same season—and the pundits are starting to take notice. The Big Red received 38 points in the most recent ESPN/USA Today poll, placing it at 27th in the nation. The Crimson has received a top-25 vote in the AP Poll for three consecutive weeks.

For the first time in history, the Ancient Eight has a realistic, though unlikely, chance of being a two-bid league for the Big Dance. And because the conference is the only Division I grouping in the country to not feature a conference tournament, a trip to the tournament is determined by conference record—thus making tomorrow night’s game, along with the Feb. 19 matchup in Cambridge, crucial.

“Honestly, I think it’s very exciting,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “I think our kids have worked hard and I think anybody in our league or anybody that plays or loves basketball, wants to be in positions such as this.”

The two teams are centered around their stars, guard Jeremy Lin for Harvard and forward Ryan Wittman for Cornell. Last season, Lin was the only player in the country to finish in the top 10 of his conference in every major statistical category. This year, the Wooden and Cousy award finalist is fourth in the Ivy in points per game (17.1), second in assists per game (4.8), and fourth in blocks per game (1.3). He also ranks fifth in the country in steals per game (2.9).

Wittman, the son of former NBA player and head coach Randy Wittman, is second in the conference in points per game with 18.2, and, as of Thursday, ranked 12th in the country in three pointers made, with 62. The two players are the heavy frontrunners for Ivy League Player of the Year; Wittman has won Ivy player of the week five times, while Lin has done so three times.

“He stretches you and he’s a gunslinger,” Amaker said of Wittman. “He catches it and he’s incredibly quick and fast into his shot...he has good size anyway, but he just gets his shot up so quickly.”

A key matchup is in the front court, where Harvard’s Keith Wright will try to contain Cornell center Jeff Foote, who, at a height of seven feet, has four inches on Wright. Foote leads the conference in rebounds per game; Wright leads in blocks per game and field goal percentage.

“[I’ll defend him] just like any other player in the post,” Wright said. “I’ve played against 7 footers before...so I don’t think it’s any different.”

While Cornell is a veteran team, relying on its senior trio of Wittman, Foote, and point guard Louis Dale for most of its offense, a key to the Crimson’s success has been the play of its three freshman–forward Kyle Casey and guards Christian Webster and Brandyn Curry.

All three have had successful spurts–most recently Casey, the reigning Ivy Rookie of the Week who has averaged over 17 points per game in his five prior contests.