The Bell Finally Tolls For the Tigers

Ivy League men's basketball has witnessed a passing of the torch: Pennsylvania finally toppled Princeton from its four-year reign as king.

It was no contest this year. Pennsylvania (22.4 overall, 14.0 Ivy) is by far and away the best team in the Ancient Eight. "The Tigers (15.11 overall, 7-7 Ivy) have grown long in the tooth.

Like the denouement of "Old Yeller," everybody could see the end coming. But it was sad anyway.

In the spirit of the moment, here's an obituary. May the Tigers' glory run rest in peace.

Princeton's Glory Years (1988 - 1992)

For the last four years, Princeton has dominated the Ancient Eight like Godzilla over Tokyo. Tiger Coach Pete Carril's troops amassed a 48-8 league record over that span--including a perfect 14-0 season two years ago.

The last four Ivy League Players of the Year have worn the orange and black: Bob Scrabis in 1989, Kit Mueller in 1990 and 1991 and Sean Jackson in 1992.

Some of the NCAA tournament's finest first-round moments are courtesy of the Tigers. The 50-49 loss to Georgetown in 1989? A five-handkerchief game. Who can forget Dick Vitale (may he die in agony) wearing a Princeton sweatshirt in the ESPN studio after the game?

Arkansas barely survived, 68-64, in 1990-then went on to reach the Final Four.

The Tigers were seeded eighth in the East Regional in 1991, but Rollie Massamino (who was Harvard Coach Frank Sullivan's high school coach, by the way) and Villanova just edged past the Tigers 50-48.

Princeton lost to Syracuse in 1992, 51-43, but by then the secret was out, anyway: the Tigers were of the man-eating kind.

Carril's offense--when running on all cylinders--is a thing of beauty. When Princeton played Harvard at home this season, only three of its shots were not layups or three-pointers. (The Princeton play-by-play sheet even has a special column for layups.)

RIP for now--but wait until 1992 Rookie of the Year Rick Hielscher's senior season. Someday, Carill and his troops will return.

Battling Expectations

The real challenge for a team over the course is not its empirical won-lost record, but to perform above expectations.

If North Carolina goes 11-15, it's a shock. If Brown goes 11-15, it's a miracle.

With that in mind, here's a quick run-down of the final Ivy League standings:

* Pennsylvania (14-0 Ivy, 22-4 overall)--Best of the Best III. Then again, Best of the Best II is terrible. Come to think of it, the original Best of the Best is a bout as good as the six-week old Zesty Broccoli Tofu Stir-Fry HDS dishes up every now and then. Hmm.

* Columbia (10-4, 16-10)--Who died and left them in second? Wow...

* Cornell (9.5, 16-10)--The surprising Big Red has been carried to the bronze medal by a freshman named Pax White-head Pax? Pax? What kind of a name is Pax? Pax this, pal...

* Princeton (7-7, 15-11)--Carril tore into the local New Jersey media for expecting too much of his team at the beginning of the season. "An Ivy title?" he queried. "Does anyone know just how good Penn is?

Well Penn's pretty good. But from 12-2 to 7-7? No one was expecting that. Hell. The Crimson's basketball writers picked the Tigers to win it all. Ouch.

* Yale (6-8, 10-16)--Four wins in the last five games makes a pretty respectable season.

* Dartmouth (5-9, 11-15)--A lot of good Duke transfer Crawford Palmer did these guys, Back top the beer, fellas.

* Harvard (3-11, 6-20)--Well, hey, it tied last season's overall record. Cross your fingers and bride the admissions office.

* Brown (2-12, 7-19)-- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the Ancient Eight. A random group of MAC players could take this team. But that's about what was expected, anyway.

A Final Note

Senior center Arturo Llopis won the Ivy League's rebounding crown, with 8.4 boards per game. He's the third Crimson player in a row to win the rebounding crown (Ron Mitchell '92 won the last two).

Senior Matt McClain played for the first time since snapping his anterior cruciate ligament last year against Boston College. His five minutes against Cornell yielded three points. He'll be back next year.