Finally, of course, there’s Harvard, which is “The Social Network,” and not for the obvious reasons. Both may not win the title this year, but highlighted by young talent, they will probably be the story people talk most about in years to come.

In both cases, the team stayed strong after losing one of its key components—Eduardo Saverin and Lin. Harvard isn’t blowing out teams at home like it did last year, but that’s likely because its opponents have gotten better. So as strange as it seems that the Crimson could improve after losing one of the best players in franchise history, the improvement of co-captain Keith Wright and the addition of freshman Laurent Rivard may have helped it do just that.

Wright has developed from a guy who would merely hit his open lay-ups when Lin was double-teamed into a player with consistent post moves and a reliable outside jumper. Rivard, meanwhile, has singlehandedly brought the team back into two games it would have otherwise had no business being in—at Michigan and at Princeton—with his eye-opening three-ball ability.

As good as Lin was, the offense at times tended to revolve around him too much last year. This season, the ball movement has been much better in Tommy Amaker’s more balanced inside-out scheme.

No matter what happens this season, with no seniors and the Ivy’s best recruiting class by a mile, the Crimson–which is probably a Kyle Casey injury away from being 20-2 right now–should be the best team in the conference for years to come.

With a veteran backcourt in will-be senior Oliver McNally and will-be junior Brandyn Curry, an interior post threat in Wright, and great shooters in Rivard and Christian Webster, the team will have all the components you look for in a team capable of making a Cornell-esque tournament run next year.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. We’ll gladly take the Golden Globe for now.

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.