A couple of things to keep in mind when capping the Ivy:
1. The home team usually wins SU
2. The Ivy teams play back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, so on Friday it's important to see who they're playing the next day to see if there's a look-ahead of if the coach is going to be resting players.
Here are my initial thoughts on Friday night's Ivy games:
Brown at Harvard -1.5
On paper these two look very similar. Harvard is 4-0-1 ATS vs Brown at 4-1-1 ATS. Both teams are 3-1 in conference games.
IMO Brown is a better team (by 5 points on a neutral court) but Harvard is very tough at home; the Crimson just beat Penn, the best team in the Ivy, the last time out.
But I like Brown and the points here, they're coming off a loss at home to Yale where the Bruins shot poorly and were outhustled on the floor and on the boards. Also, Harvard hasn't played in almost 3 weeks (last game was 1/12), I think they'll come out a little flat and might let the high-scoring Bruins (avg 82 ppg) run away with this one. Might be worth a first half play on Brown.
Cornell at Penn -20
Penn is easily the class of the Ivy and Cornell is 0-11 on the road. Easy call?
But I'll take Cornell to stay within 20; Penn is coming off a couple of tough Big Five wins over St. Joe's and LaSalle in the last week and I think they'll take it easy on Cornell as they're got another Ivy game on Saturday night vs a better Columbia team. Cornell is used to being a big dog and they've done a decent job covering some big numbers. The Big Red will probably try to slow the game down which will make it tougher for Penn to get up by 20.
Yale at Dartmouth +7.5
Sagerin would make it Yale by four but I'll take Yale to cover here even though the Bulldogs have to play Harvard in Boston on Saturday. Yale is 3-0-1 ATS on the road and they own a huge advantage on the boards in this one. I think the Bulldogs will use this game as a shooting practice and if they start hitting their 3s this one could get ugly.
Columbia at Princeton -9.5
This Princeton team is not as good as the ones in years past but they're still better than Columbia. The Lions are much better on their home court than away but they're coming off a nice 12 point road win at Cornell. IMO Princeton will win SU but not cover as the Tigers are one of those teams that tend to play to the level of their competition. And Columbia is a team that can just hang around until the end.
These aren't my final plays and I would love to hear other thoughts on these games.
Back later.
- Jon
1. The home team usually wins SU
2. The Ivy teams play back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, so on Friday it's important to see who they're playing the next day to see if there's a look-ahead of if the coach is going to be resting players.
Here are my initial thoughts on Friday night's Ivy games:
Brown at Harvard -1.5
On paper these two look very similar. Harvard is 4-0-1 ATS vs Brown at 4-1-1 ATS. Both teams are 3-1 in conference games.
IMO Brown is a better team (by 5 points on a neutral court) but Harvard is very tough at home; the Crimson just beat Penn, the best team in the Ivy, the last time out.
But I like Brown and the points here, they're coming off a loss at home to Yale where the Bruins shot poorly and were outhustled on the floor and on the boards. Also, Harvard hasn't played in almost 3 weeks (last game was 1/12), I think they'll come out a little flat and might let the high-scoring Bruins (avg 82 ppg) run away with this one. Might be worth a first half play on Brown.
Cornell at Penn -20
Penn is easily the class of the Ivy and Cornell is 0-11 on the road. Easy call?
But I'll take Cornell to stay within 20; Penn is coming off a couple of tough Big Five wins over St. Joe's and LaSalle in the last week and I think they'll take it easy on Cornell as they're got another Ivy game on Saturday night vs a better Columbia team. Cornell is used to being a big dog and they've done a decent job covering some big numbers. The Big Red will probably try to slow the game down which will make it tougher for Penn to get up by 20.
Yale at Dartmouth +7.5
Sagerin would make it Yale by four but I'll take Yale to cover here even though the Bulldogs have to play Harvard in Boston on Saturday. Yale is 3-0-1 ATS on the road and they own a huge advantage on the boards in this one. I think the Bulldogs will use this game as a shooting practice and if they start hitting their 3s this one could get ugly.
Columbia at Princeton -9.5
This Princeton team is not as good as the ones in years past but they're still better than Columbia. The Lions are much better on their home court than away but they're coming off a nice 12 point road win at Cornell. IMO Princeton will win SU but not cover as the Tigers are one of those teams that tend to play to the level of their competition. And Columbia is a team that can just hang around until the end.
These aren't my final plays and I would love to hear other thoughts on these games.
Back later.
- Jon
