As you probably know, Penn visits Princeton tonight, writing another chapter in the Ivy League’s best rivalry. Some of you may even be making the trip up to watch. But although we know you might laugh at us, we’re about to tell you why you should actually be rooting for the Tigers tonight.
Hear us out. So far, Penn, behind a second-year head coach, went 6-8 in nonconference play and started with a couple Ivy wins before tailing off. Does that sound like any other recent Ancient Eight teams? Look no further than the 2008-09 Tigers. In coach Sydney Johnson’s second year, they also lost eight non-league games and opened the conference season with a win streak, including a big performance in a second-weekend home game against a projected favorite (though, we should note, Princeton actually won, beating Cornell by 20 — unlike Penn on Saturday).
But wait — there’s more. The previous year, Princeton hit rock bottom, winning only six games in Johnson’s rookie season and suffering a double-digit losing streak early in the year. 2009-10 Penn? A coaching change, a ten-game losing streak, and, you guessed it, six wins.
Still not convinced? In 2006-07, the Tigers followed up a successful season with a disappointing 11-17 campaign. The 2008-09 Quakers, fresh off an Ivy League championship, struggled to a 10-18 finish.
By now, the trend should be clear — Penn is following Princeton’s exact pattern, two years later. So, though we realize it’s difficult to support a rival, you should be rooting for the Tigers this year, setting the precedent for your Quakers in 2013.
Because, let’s face it, do you really think your team is NCAA tournament material? Sure, Penn had a terrific game against Harvard last week. In fact, if Zack Rosen had made one more last-second basket, this column would have had a much different tone — namely, a big “thank you” for giving Harvard a second loss and ensuring that Princeton could win the league without winning at Lavietes Pavilion. (No offense, but let’s face it, if you give us the choice of needing a victory at the Palestra or at Harvard this year, we’re going to Philadelphia every time.)
Alas, the Crimson pulled out a victory and still has strong hopes of winning its first-ever Ivy League title. As for the Quakers, they remain in third place and seem ready to fall fast: Penn, you may recall, lost more than it won outside the conference, including defeats to Manhattan and Marist (who are a combined 8-40).
And, to be honest, the odds are stacked against you tonight. Princeton has won 13 consecutive games at Jadwin — its two basketball teams have yet to lose a home game this year. Rosen is a terrific player, no doubt, but let’s not forget last season: 8-27 shooting in two games against the Tigers. Penn’s second-best scorer, Jack Eggleston, made exactly one-third of his 147 three-point attempts in his first three years — do you really think he’s going to continue hitting 52 percent this year? Regression will come, probably as soon as tonight (even hot-shooting Harvard went just 3-16 from deep on Carril Court).
So instead of futilely hoping for your potential third-place team to avoid another loss, you should root for Princeton to roll through the league. Maybe it will pave the way for Penn to do the same in two years.
Unless, of course, Princeton goes 14-0.
KEVIN WHITAKER and KIRAN GOLLAKOTA are the Sports Editors of The Daily Princetonian. They can be reached at kswhitak@princeton.edu.
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