The Ivy League is just different. You don't get the one-and-done circus here, and nobody is buying a roster with NIL money that could fund a small country. It’s pure. It’s also currently a mess if you’re trying to figure out who the actual favorite is. We’re deep enough into January 2026 that the preseason polls are basically bird cage liner. Everyone thought Yale would waltz through this, but the ivy league men's basketball standings tell a much weirder story right now.
Dartmouth and Princeton are sitting at the top of the conference. Yeah, you read that right. Dartmouth.
The Shocking Reality of the Ivy League Men's Basketball Standings
If you looked at the records three weeks ago, you would’ve laughed at this. Princeton came into conference play with a sub-.500 record, looking like they forgot how to shoot. Then they went into New Haven and absolutely dismantled Yale 76-60. Jackson Hicke turned into a flamethrower, dropping 27 points and making a very good Bulldogs defense look like they were standing in quicksand.
Princeton is 2-0 in the league now.
Dartmouth is 2-0 too.
It’s bizarre because Dartmouth’s overall record is 8-7, which doesn't scream "dominance," but they’ve figured out how to win the games that actually matter for a trip to Ivy Madness. They just hung 102 points on Cornell in Ithaca. Who does that? Cornell usually averages 94 points a game themselves—they're the fastest team in the country—but Dartmouth out-ran the track stars.
👉 See also: Calendario de la H: Todo lo que debes saber sobre cuando juega honduras 2025 y el camino al Mundial
Where Everyone Sits Right Now
Let's look at the actual numbers as of January 16, 2026.
- Dartmouth Big Green: 2-0 (8-7 Overall). They’ve won three straight and suddenly look like the team nobody wants to play.
- Princeton Tigers: 2-0 (6-11 Overall). Forget the non-conference losses to teams like Akron and Iona. They are undefeated when it counts.
- Yale Bulldogs: 1-1 (12-3 Overall). Still the most talented roster, but that loss to Princeton was a wake-up call.
- Columbia Lions: 1-1 (12-4 Overall). They had a wild 104-99 win over Cornell but then tripped up.
- Penn Quakers: 1-1 (8-7 Overall). They almost beat Princeton in a 78-76 heartbreaker.
- Harvard Crimson: 1-1 (8-8 Overall). Classic Tommy Amaker squad—tough defense, but the offense disappears for six-minute stretches.
- Cornell Big Red: 0-2 (7-8 Overall). They are the most fun team to watch, but they can’t stop a nosebleed right now.
- Brown Bears: 0-2 (6-9 Overall). Sitting at the bottom, but they have the best scoring defense in the league. Figure that one out.
The point spread in this league is tiny. Honestly, the difference between the first-place team and the sixth-place team is basically one missed free throw or a bad whistle in the final thirty seconds.
Why the Preseason Favorites are Struggling
Yale was the unanimous pick to win the league. Every single media member voted for them. They kept three starters and have James Jones, who is basically the Godfather of Ivy League coaching. But they lost Bez Mbeng and John Poulakidas to the professional ranks and the portal, and you can see the friction. They aren't "reloading" as fast as people thought.
Then there’s Cornell. They lead the nation in effective field goal percentage (shooting about 59% from inside the arc). They play a style of basketball that looks like a fast-forwarded video tape. But in the Ivy League, teams eventually figure out how to muck up the game. If you can’t win a 65-62 grind-fest, you aren't going to win this conference.
✨ Don't miss: Caitlin Clark GPA Iowa: The Truth About Her Tippie College Grades
The X-Factor: Ivy Madness
Remember, the ivy league men's basketball standings only exist to determine who gets to the four-team tournament in March. This year, it's being held at Newman Arena in Ithaca. That’s a massive advantage for Cornell, assuming they can actually climb out of the 0-2 hole they’ve dug.
The pressure is massive because the Ivy League is almost always a one-bid league for the NCAA Tournament. You could go 14-0 in the regular season, lose by one point in the Ivy semi-finals, and your season is effectively over. It's cruel. It's also why these January games feel like life and death.
What to Watch This Weekend
Everything changes again on Saturday, January 17.
Columbia travels to Brown, which is a classic "unstoppable force meets immovable object" game. Columbia wants to score 90; Brown wants to hold you to 60. Then you’ve got Princeton heading to Harvard. If Princeton goes 3-0, they basically have one foot in the postseason tournament already.
🔗 Read more: Barry Sanders Shoes Nike: What Most People Get Wrong
Watch the Dartmouth vs. Penn game closely. If Dartmouth moves to 3-0, the entire narrative of the season flips. We’ll have to start talking about them as a legitimate title contender instead of a "nice story."
Key Players Carrying Their Teams
- Jackson Hicke (Princeton): He’s the reason the Tigers are at the top. His 27-point night against Yale wasn't a fluke; he's been the offensive engine for three weeks.
- Jake Fiegen (Cornell): He just dropped 33 points in a loss. He’s arguably the best pure shooter in the league, but he needs help on the defensive end.
- Robert Hinton (Harvard): The reigning Rookie of the Year hasn't hit a sophomore slump. He's the only reason Harvard's offense stays afloat during those dry spells.
How to Make Sense of the Standings
Don't get fooled by the overall records. Princeton is 6-11, but they played one of the hardest non-conference schedules in the country. They played Kansas. They played Big East teams. They are battle-hardened. Meanwhile, Columbia's 12-4 record looks great on paper, but a lot of those wins came against teams that wouldn't win a middle-school tournament.
The real Ivy League starts now. The travel partner back-to-backs (Friday/Saturday games) are coming up, and that’s where the tired legs show up.
Keep an eye on the defensive field goal percentages. Columbia is actually leading the league there, holding opponents to about 40% shooting. That’s the stat that usually predicts who wins the regular-season title.
To stay ahead of the curve, track the "points per possession" rather than just the wins and losses. Yale and Columbia are still the most efficient teams, which suggests they’ll eventually move back toward the top of the ivy league men's basketball standings as the season progresses.
Check the local student newspapers like The Daily Princetonian or The Cornell Sun for the best boots-on-the-ground reporting. They catch the small details—like a lingering ankle sprain or a locker room rift—that the national sites completely miss. If you're betting or just following closely, that's where the real edge is found.