Ivy League men's basketball power rankings: Week 5

With three weekends remaining in Ivy League action, it's shaping up to be a five-team race for the four Ivy Madness spots. Yale and Princeton are tied for first in the Ancient Eight, but Harvard, Brown, and Penn are just one game back. Here's where all eight schools stand with six games left.

The contenders: 

1. Yale (18-6, 6-2 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 1

Despite a weekend split, the Elis maintain the top spot in both the official standings and this week's power rankings. Yale dominated Princeton 88-64 on Friday night in a game where they trailed only once all game thanks to five players scoring in the double figures. On Saturday, they dropped a close game to Penn after big offensive struggles from Azar Swain, who shot just 5-of-18 from the field. Yale has an easy slate this weekend in New York with matchups against Cornell and Columbia.

2. Princeton (11-10, 6-2 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 2

The Tigers faltered on Friday night with a big loss against Yale, which likely ends their chances at securing the No. 1 seed in the Ivy tournament. Princeton has struggled with consistency in its two losses this season, but they were able to rebound for the second straight week with a solid Saturday win. Princeton dominated Brown with efficient offensive performances from Ethan Wright and Richmond Aririguzoh, which should give the Tigers momentum going into a big game against Harvard — a team they beat by a free throw just under three weeks ago. 

3. Penn (13-8, 5-3 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 3

Nothing was falling for the Quakers in the second half of their Friday night matchup against Brown. The Bears ripped off a 28-4 run and stormed back to win the game after trailing by 11 in the first half. Fortunately, Penn was able to come out strong on Saturday, upsetting highly favored Yale, 69-61, in a game that saw AJ Brodeur become Penn's all-time leader in field goals made. The Red and Blue's two losses to Princeton are hurting Penn's power ranking this week, but this looks like a different, more polished team as of late. 

4. Harvard (16-7, 5-3 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 5

Harvard came away with their first weekend sweep with two victories over New York opponents. The Crimson came out strong against Cornell, hitting 10 threes and never relinquishing their lead over the Big Red. Saturday night was a different story, as both Columbia and Harvard shot worse than a high school basketball squad in the second half. The Crimson eventually scraped by Columbia in double overtime despite a 38-point performance from the Lions' Mike Smith. Harvard has hurt its own chances with mindless errors at countless times this season, and with Bryce Aiken's status still up in the air, it remains to be seen if the Crimson are a legitimate contender for the Ivy crown.

5. Brown (12-9, 5-3 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 4

Riding a four-game win streak, the Bears traveled to the Palestra on Friday, where they benefited from a cold-shooting Penn offense and came away with a double-digit win. Brandon Anderson was on fire throughout the night, shooting 12-of-22 for 31 points. All good things must come to an end, though, and Brown learned this the hard way: They came crashing down to Earth in a 19-point road loss to Princeton where they shot just 36.2% from the floor. Looking to the future, Brown is a dangerous team that has a relatively easy schedule from here on out after already playing Yale twice.

The pretenders: 

6. Dartmouth (9-14, 2-6 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 8

One of the biggest stories of the past weekend was Dartmouth's emergence. The Big Green were winless in conference play — a phenomenon they're not unfamiliar with — despite some close losses to Brown and Harvard. It looked like Friday would be more of the same for Dartmouth, but Aaryn Rai sunk a turnaround floater at the buzzer to beat Columbia and Dartmouth's 633 fans in attendance went nuts. Then on Saturday, the Big Green blew out Cornell by a 75-53 score — their biggest margin of victory in 21 years over a conference opponent. It may be a case of too little too late for Dartmouth, but there is still a glimmer of hope for a late Ivy tournament run. 

7. Cornell (5-16, 2-6 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 6

The Big Red are continuing to move in the wrong direction after their upset victory over Princeton, as they've now dropped three straight contests. Their last two losses have been by 22-point margins, and the Big Red are now winless through 13 road contests (which surprisingly isn't the worst mark in the Ivy League). Cornell has a tough weekend ahead against Yale and Brown, but they will have home-court advantage.

8. Columbia (6-18, 1-7 Ivy)

Last week's rank: 7

Columbia has been playing teams down to the wire as of late, but it still hasn't been enough to snap the Lions' seven-game skid. They have lost five straight games by single digits, including a double-overtime thriller against Harvard. Columbia does have four straight upcoming home contests, which bodes well for a team that hasn't won a true road matchup since the beginning of last March.