The women defeated Cornell yesterday 91-58 to win the regular season outright… I believe that’s Columbia’s first outright title in basketball… men or women. Yes, the McMillian-led Lions won the Ivy title in 1968, but they needed to win the playoff game vs Princeton to break the tie.
Barring an upset by the Quakers in the semifinal this Friday, I think the Lions will get into the NCAA tournament regardless of the outcome in the final.
I think so too, Harvard and Columbia should get in if they make it to the final and have a strong case even if they loose the semifinal game. Princeton needs at least to win the semifinal.
That being said, yes, it is the first outright basketball title ever for Columbia. I’ll be going to Providence for the final, I hope I don’t jinx it and we finally get the first ever tournament as well (since the current format was introduced). This is the year
I think losing to a team with a 160 NET ranking on a neutral court will cripple Columbia’s chances of an at-large bid… they’ll need to play on Friday like it’s a must-win game.
It makes it harder, definitely, but it’s not the end of the world. We would still have better Q1/Q2 resume than Minnesota, and VT already has 2 defeats of the same caliber as Penn. I think we are ahead enough that we can still get in even if we loose the semi, but I would definitely not risk it. Given how they are playing against lower ranked team, I don’t think we should be too worried tho
You might be right… let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that 
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