Penn Beats Davidson in Men's Hoops for First Opening-Day Win Since 2005

Cornell is the three-time defending champ.

Princeton is the favorite.

Harvard has the big-name recruits.

Penn?

Perhaps predicted to finish as high as second or third, but that's about it, and people forget that the Quakers have suffered about as many injuries over the course of the past 2 seasons as the Phillies (who, admittedly, have a larger roster and enjoyed better managing and better results).

But the Quakers have a lot of talent (okay, so that's something that an observer can say almost every season about Penn), and it's healthy. PG Zack Rosen is as good a favorite for the Ivy League Player of the Year title as any, forward Tyler Bernardini is a sharpshooter, and frosh guard Miles Cartwright was one of the league's biggest recruits and popped in all of his 18 points in the second half to help propel the Quakers to victory. Penn also has a bunch of returning forwards with size, including Jack Eggleston, who had 11 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. (Among the injured, Bernardini, who missed almost all of last season, center Andreas Schreiber, who missed all of last season, and guard Darren Smith, who came in with much potential but missed most of the past two seasons with injuries).

You can read about Penn's opener here.

Suffice it to say that before people forget about Penn, any team that wants to win the Ivies and go to the NCAA tournament will face grueling challenges from the Quakers. Yes, Penn might have been down the past couple of years, but they have a great tradition there and enough returning veterans to make it very interesting -- for themselves and the rest of the league.