ICGrad wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:03 am
10stone5 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 02, 2023 6:36 pm
Big Red are a virtual lock for At Large
Too much lax yet to say this. Any of their 5 remaining games is a potential loss; I probably feel best about Harvard, who they handled easily last year and who I think they should beat this Saturday. but after that:
- Marquette: A dangerous team - just ask Penn State - and a midweek trap game.
- Army: Look no further than last year's shellacking at the Kopf. 'Nuff Said.
- Brown: Desperate and dangerous, Brown will quite possibly be fighting to keep their very slim playoff chances alive. This is a Borwn team that's back to full strength and that beat Cornell handily last year...again, at the 'Kopf. Meaning this will be a critical road game.
- Princeton. Probably the Ivy #2; at least this one's at home but, hey, it's Princeton.
If Cornell loses just one of their remaining games, then I think they're a lock. If they lose two, I start to get a bit nervous. If they lose two and lose in the first round of the ILT - does a 4-loss Ivy team make the tourney in a down year for the Ivies? Probably, but I start to see some circumstances that make me very wary. If they lose to Princeton in the season finale and Princeton loses in the championship game: does someone else steal the AQ, does Princeton grab an at-large, and does Cornell get left out?
Cornell is in great shape but has a dangerous finish ahead of them.
Fair analysis.
I think most of us would agree that odds are excellent right now, but as you lay out, there are a number of scenarios that would change that optimism for Cornell.
As we said about Notre Dame last year, gotta win the games. They won the stretch, but not early. Thus bubble, and bubble can go the wrong way.
Cornell's done the early part, now going into the stretch, but gotta win in the stretch too!
That said, they have all the basic necessary pieces playing well together.