I believe Cornell’s talent trumps the Big Green’s, and the Ithacans will get their first Ivy win of the season.

Pick: Cornell 61, Dartmouth 54

BROWN (7-9, 0-2 Ivy) at PRINCETON (12-4, 0-0 Ivy)

Brown has been up-and-down all season. It’s the type of team that could beat the best team in the league one night and lose to the worst the next. With a bevy of weapons—forwards Peter Sullivan and Tucker Halpern, and guards Garrett Leffelman and Sean McGonagill—the Bears could go into Jadwin and tame the Tigers like they did last season.

It’s unlikely though. This Princeton team has four players averaging more than 13 points per game—forwards Ian Hummer and Kareem Maddox, and guards Dan Mavraides, and Douglas Davis—that can match up with Brown’s best and pull out a win at home.

Pick: Princeton 70, Brown 61

YALE (9-7, 2-0 Ivy) at PENN (6-8, 0-0 Ivy)

The Bulldogs and the Quakers round out Friday’s games in perhaps the weekend’s most even matchup. Yale has a monster down low in junior Greg Mangano, who averages a double-double at 14.8 points and 10.3 rebounds per game and leads the league in blocks. But Penn has its own star in guard Zack Rosen, a unanimous All-Ivy first-teamer last year.

The theme of the Ivy League this year is a return to parity after Cornell’s dominant three-year reign. In that spirit, I’m picking the Bulldogs in a slight upset at the Palestra.

Pick: Yale 68, Penn 65

COLUMBIA at DARTMOUTH

Dartmouth could really, really use a win this weekend, if not over the Big Red, then against Columbia on Saturday. Without a victory, the Big Green will head on the road to face the Killer P’s and almost certainly be looking at an 0-6 Ivy record to start the season.

Unfortunately, I don’t see Dartmouth picking up a win against a hot Lions team. Let the spiral begin in Hanover.

Pick: Columbia 65, Dartmouth 50

BROWN at PENN