COLUMBIA AT BROWN
After an interlude of unbiased news coverage, The Daily Spectator has returned to form. Consistent readers of this column may recall famous columns comparing Lions games to the Super Bowl, celebrating December wins in March, and likening Hanover to a “scene from The Shining.” Daniel Radov is back to make his place in history, calling Alex Rosenberg’s buzzer-beater last Saturday his second “game-winning” shot in three years.
Problem is that the shot Radov refers to was waived off for a foul about which Lions fans are still salty. I’d liken christening it a “game-winner” to calling Justin Bieber a “family figure” or labeling Qdoba a “burrito chain.” Try as hard as we might to imagine that reality, it just ain’t here.
Pick: Brown
DARTMOUTH AT PRINCETON
After seemingly turning the corner against Harvard, the Big Green took a step back last weekend with a sweep at the hands of the Gentleman’s C’s. Against a Tigers team that can’t afford many missteps with the way the Lions and Bulldogs are playing, that’s a recipe for disaster.
Pick: Princeton
HARVARD AT PENN
It is hard to square the sedate basketball rivalry between these two schools with its electric football history. Penn nearly took away Harvard’s undefeated season a year ago before completing the feat last year, nicely priming the Crimson for a ninth consecutive beatdown of Yale.
It was the fourth consecutive year the game had title implications, something that can scarcely be said for the teams’ encounters on the hardwood. Since Zach Rosen patrolled the floor, Penn has routinely been at the bottom of the conference. Firing Jerome Allen last year was a first step, but outside of an overtime effort against Princeton, Penn has looked poor in Ivy League play. Senior Darien-Nelson Henry has steadily become one of the best rebounding big men in the league, but his advanced defensive stats lag behind his impressive box score statistics. Sophomore Sam Jones has stepped up, but he and classmate Antonio Woods are not at the same level as the conference’s best backcourts (Yale, Princeton, Cornell).
It says here this game will be closer than last year, but don’t expect Harvard to bow out easily.
Pick: Harvard
—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com.