Dave Zeitlin: Cheer on the Tigers

The last two games at the Palestra, the Penn men's basketball team was rather inhospitable to its guests. The Quakers edged Yale on Feb. 23 before routing Princeton on Tuesday to complete their nine-game climb to the top of the Ivy League standings.

Now, Princeton and Yale will play at the Palestra for the right to play Penn (that sounds good, doesn't it?). And luckily for the Elis and Tigers, one of them actually has a chance to leave Philadelphia victorious.

Which brings us to the important question: who should the Quakers root for tonight -- the young, emerging Yale squad that may not fully realize the importance of this game or the steady, always-solid Princeton squad that's been in this position many times before?

Princeton or Yale? Ahmed El-Nokali or Ime Archibong? Bill Bradley or Chris Dudley? John Nash or George Dubya?

In my mind, the answer is rather simple -- get your pom-poms, your rollouts and your cowbells and cheer your damnedest for Princeton.

Yes, that's right -- Princeton. The dreaded Tigers. The unholy, loathsome and sickening basketball team from New Jersey. Because as much as you despise Penn's arch-rivals, you must understand that Yale is, quite frankly, a far superior team -- a team Penn does not want to see again, especially with so much on the line.

In two games against Yale this season, Penn has struggled mightily. The Elis exploited the Quakers' glaring weakness -- their speed (or should I say their lack thereof.) Yale's two freshmen guards, Alex Gamboa and Edwin Draughan ran circles around the slow-footed Quakers in the first two meetings.

The Elis also have another thing the Quakers do not -- depth. Yale coach James Jones substitutes five at a time, and the scary thing is the second team is almost as good as the first. Penn coach Fran Dunphy, meanwhile, has gone to his bench less and less ever since the Columbia debacle.

The Elis have proven they can beat the Quakers, and they have proven they can hang with them at the always-tough-to-play-at Palestra -- quite an accomplishment for a team as young as Yale.

There's no telling what can happen on a neutral site. When I see James Jones and his promising crop of talent take the floor, butterflies stir in my stomach.

When I see John Thompson III and his woeful crop of Princetonian robots take the floor, I chuckle softly to myself and pencil in a "W" for the Quakers.

Normally I'd be scared to see Penn play Princeton for a third time in the season, because, as many people are saying, it's hard to beat the same team thrice.

But this isn't a normal Princeton team. This is a bad Princeton team. The Tigers' best win this season, according to the RPI, came against -- you guessed it -- Yale.

Tonight at the Palestra, you must hope the Tigers can defeat the Elis again. As hard as it may be, you must root for Princeton, allow the Tigers to ride their high horse for two days and then relish a Quakers victory over their arch-rival on Saturday.

Because the only thing better than getting to the NCAA tournament is getting there with yet another win over the Tigers.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.