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With four games left, Penn fighting for an Ivy League tournament berth

The Quakers have little margin for error as they prepare to visit Harvard on Friday.

Max Rothschild and the rest of the Penn Quakers are trying to earn the fourth spot in the Ivy League tournament.
Max Rothschild and the rest of the Penn Quakers are trying to earn the fourth spot in the Ivy League tournament.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

With four games left, Penn still faces an uphill battle to earn the fourth and final Ivy League basketball playoff spot, but Saturday’s 68-50 victory over Cornell was definitely a must-win situation.

In an Ivy League with great parity, Yale leads with an 8-2 record while Harvard and Princeton are 7-3. For argument’s sake, let’s assume those three will be above Penn, especially since the Quakers are 0-1 against Yale and Harvard and 0-2 against Princeton. (Head to head is the first tiebreaker.)

So it appears as if Brown (5-5), Cornell (5-5) and Penn (4-6) are vying for the last berth.

If there is a two-way tie and the teams have split their two games, the tie will be broken by comparing each team’s record against the highest seed outside of the tie and continuing through the full league standings.

Right now, Cornell and Brown have both defeated Harvard. Brown also owns a win over Princeton. Penn, as mentioned, is 0-4 against the top three teams.

If there are more than two teams tied, the higher seed will go to the team that has won the most league games against the other teams tied at that spot.

If a tie still exists, the tie will be broken by comparing each team’s record against the highest seed outside of the tie and continuing through the full league standings

There are more additional tiebreakers, but for now, we’ll just focus on these.

Here is a look at Penn and the teams the Quakers are fighting for that final playoff spot.

Cornell (5-5)

Remaining schedule: at Yale (8-2) at Brown (5-5), vs. Harvard (7-3), vs. Dartmouth (2-8).

Best win: at Harvard.

Record vs. Penn: 1-1.

Brown (5-5)

Remaining schedule: vs. Columbia (2-8), vs. Cornell (5-5), at Princeton (7-3) at Penn (4-6).

Best win(s): vs. Harvard (7-3), vs. Princeton (7-3).

Record vs. Penn: 0-1.

Penn (4-6)

Remaining schedule: at Harvard (7-3) at Dartmouth (2-8), vs. Yale (8-2), vs. Brown (5-5).

Best win(s): vs. Cornell (5-5) and at Brown (5-5).

Record vs. Cornell: 1-1. Record vs. Brown: 1-0.

As for this weekend, Penn starts things off with a difficult game at Harvard. On Feb. 16, the Crimson scored a 75-68 overtime win over Penn at the Palestra.

In that game, Harvard trailed 61-55 with 1 minute and 15 seconds left in regulation before forcing overtime and then controlling play in the extra period.