bradley 
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 75
Reg: 01-15-16
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03-25-19 01:44 PM - Post#282673
Will the IL have two teams representing both the men and the women in 2020 as well as winning 1 or 2 games at the Big Dance by some team? If there is ever a year for opportunity, it may well be next year based on Harvard's men team and possibly, the Tiger's women team. Additionally, if Oni returns or one of the other men's team steps up and either Penn/Harvard step up on the women's side is it possible?
Are the BB Gods finally merciful regarding injuries for several of the teams in 2020?
Looking a the past six years, it is questionable based on what has actually occurred:
Men
2019 Yake 14th Seed 77 RPI Lost by 5 pts
2018 Penn 16th 125 Lost by 16
2017 Prin 12th 58 Lost by 2
2016 Yale 12th 77 Won by 4/Lost 7
2015 H 13th 75 Lost by 2
2014 H 12th 32 Won by 6/Lost 17
For the women which face somewhat less competition, the seedings from 2019-2014 are 11th,12th,11th,8th,12th and 9th. The women did win one game as a 8 seed.
The stage is set for Harvard to jump thru the hoop and send a message that the IL will no longer be primarily a one and done league which may be helpful as to seedings in follow up years. Additionally, IL teams need to continue to improve in non-conference play which took place last year. Will it happen - who knows but the time is right to make a statement. Easier to theorize than actually accomplish a challenging task.
After watching the quality of both NCAAM and NCAAW teams, it will not be easy as many schools have a lot of talent and I am not sure if the Ivies are there yet but hopefully so. We see IL teams improving talent wise but so are many other teams.
Was the Yale team of 2019 more talented than Yale's 2016 team that won a game and battled Duke in the round of 32? Is the competition more or less challenging than 2016? Time will tell.
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