Four teams, one title and a lot of confusion

Alright, Penn fans. Get your pencils sharpened and your notebooks ready. And pay attention, because we're only going to say this once. With just a week left in what has turned out to be a very competitive Ivy League men's basketball season, it will be more than just traditional powerhouses Penn and Princeton fighting for an Ivy title down the stretch. Sure, the Quakers and Tigers are in first place. But Brown and Yale are nipping at their heels. Every other Ancient Eight squad has been eliminated from title contention, but Penn, Princeton, Yale and Brown can all sniff that Ivy League championship. Coincidentally, these four teams will all play each other once for their final three regular season games. The Bears and Elis will be home against Penn and Princeton this weekend. On Tuesday, Penn will head to Jadwin to look for redemption and a possible trip to the NCAA Tournament. And the next day, Brown will host Yale in a game that could also conceivably decide the Ivy League title. There's the schedule for you. Now it's time for some possible scenarios. Penn and Princeton each sport an 8-3 league record, one game better than Brown and Yale. Thus, if either the Quakers or Tigers win out, they would be Ivy champions. The Elis or Bears can also claim the title outright. For that to happen, they would have to win their final three games -- including a Penn-Princeton sweep -- and hope for the Quakers and Tigers to both lose twice. Got it so far? Good. A tie for first place is also possible. There could be a two-team playoff or a four-team playoff, but there is no possibility for a three-way tie. A two-way tie for first place could be between any of the four teams except Brown and Yale. Now here comes the tricky part. For a four-way tie to occur, either Brown or Yale would have to sweep this weekend with the other team (who didn't sweep) winning once. The team that swept would then have to lose to the other at Brown on Wednesday, while the team that was swept (Penn or Princeton) would have to beat the other at Princeton on Tuesday. Yes, it's that simple. All four teams would then have a 9-5 Ivy record and the stage would be set for the first-ever four-way Ivy League tie. If this occurs, there would be a three-game playoff at a neutral site with each of these four teams getting a seed based on their head-to-head record against the other three. A doubleheader would then be played with the winners playing two days later for the Ivy title. Kind of like the Final Four. Except with Ivy League teams. So, there is a possibility -- bear with us on this one -- that the Quakers could play five games in seven days -- against Princeton on Tuesday, two Ancient Eight playoff games, the NCAA play-in game (which Penn will probably be in if they get the automatic berth) and then the NCAA first-round game the following Thursday. Yes, the stage is certainly set for some interesting -- not to mention unprecedented -- situations. But before we relieve you of your boredom, here's an interesting tidbit: The four teams in contention are a combined 20-2 at home in Ivy play this year. With that said, if the home team wins each of the three remaining games, the Brown Bears will be crowned Ivy champs. The same Brown Bears that have won one Ivy League title. Ever.

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