Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Outside of preppy sports like crew and squash, the Ivies are generally not renowned for their athletic prowess. After all, it's been quite awhile since Bill Bradley was roaming the hardwood in Princeton.
But this season marked a new era for Ivy-league hoops. While most of the focus centered on Jeremy Lin and the emergence of Harvard as a contender in the conference [full disclosure: I am a Harvard grad], the real story out of the Ancient Eight has gotten short shrift: the rise of Cornell as a legitimate sleeper.
Coming off back-to-back conference titles, the Big Red boast a senior-laden team that absolutely annihilated Harvard in their much-hyped (for the Ivies) showdown on Saturday. With their only losses coming at the hands of Seton Hall, Syracuse and Kansas (the last one in a close game on the road), Cornell is certainly a contender to be the mid-major that busts brackets come March.
In fact, the only obstacle to achieving Cinderella status may be getting too high a seed. Indeed, Cornell landed in ESPN's college basketball rankings for the first time in school history, checking in at No. 25 (as well as coming in as an eight seed in Chris Dobbertean's latest SB Nation Bracketology).
So do yourself a favor and get to know Cornell before they get ready for their March close-up.
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