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2019-20 Ivy League preview: Will it be Penn and Princeton again for the title?

By Matt Ward

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 11: Bella Alarie #31 (C) of the Princeton Tigers elates with her teammates with the win over the Harvard Crimson during an Ivy League semifinal matchup at The Palestra on March 11, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Princeton won 68-47. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 11: Bella Alarie #31 (C) of the Princeton Tigers elates with her teammates with the win over the Harvard Crimson during an Ivy League semifinal matchup at The Palestra on March 11, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Princeton won 68-47. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /
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PRINCETON, NJ – JANUARY 05: Princeton Tigers guard/forward Bella Alarie (31) during the college basketball game between the Penn Quakers and Princeton Tigers on January 5, 2019 at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, NJ (Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PRINCETON, NJ – JANUARY 05: Princeton Tigers guard/forward Bella Alarie (31) during the college basketball game between the Penn Quakers and Princeton Tigers on January 5, 2019 at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, NJ (Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Either Penn or Princeton has won the Ivy League each of the past 10 seasons

The last time that an Ivy League school not named Pennsylvania or Princeton represented the league in the NCAA Tournament, was in 2009 when Dartmouth won the regular season championship, and received the automatic bid.

It has been a decade of dominance for Penn and Princeton, as even when the league moved to a conference tournament in 2017, both the Quakers and the Tigers have continued to set the standard in the league.

Penn and Princeton competing for another championship this year might be as close to a sure thing as you could imagine this season, the rest of the league is right on their heels. Joining Penn and Princeton in each of the three Ivy Madness tournaments has been Harvard. A historic program led by Kathy Delaney-Smith, the Crimson have been a part of the league’s final weekend since its inception.

While the three schools at the top have been a constant, the fourth spot in that tournament has been a revolving door. That phrase, revolving door, doesn’t always constitute a positive, but in this case, it helps speak to the growing depth of the league. Brown, Yale, and Cornell, have all made it to Ivy Madness, while only Dartmouth and Columbia have been left on the outside looking in.

Dartmouth finished in a tie for the 4th spot last year, but lost out to Cornell on a tiebreaker. Columbia showed slight improvement from the previous two seasons, and head coach Megan Griffith seems to have the Lions trending in the right direction.

Here’s a look at how I believe this year will shake out in the Ivy League.

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