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Brown
So, Brown can score. They play at one of the fastest tempos in the Ivy League. Admittedly, that is a bit like driving 45 in a residential neighborhood (referring solely to pace of play, not quality). The rub is that Brown doesn't really play defense.
Through its non-conference slate (Brown is 4-9 so far), the Bears sit 301st in the nation in points allowed. They fare a little better in KenPom's advanced metrics (ranking 276th in the defensive efficiency category), but not much. What that means is that you could have some exciting losses in Providence!
Brown has a core of junior talent and very good senior captain Cedric Kuakumensah (say it five times fast). The depth is young, with four freshmen and sophomores getting the bulk of the bench minutes. Scoring comes from Kuakumensah and a junior guard triumvirate of Norman Hobbie, Tavon Blackmon and Steven Spieth, of the Dallas Spieths.
Brown is pretty much guaranteed to start the Ivy season 0-2, as they play travel partner Yale twice in January. This is just a bad match-up for the Bears. We'll talk more about Yale later, but they have the guard play to match Brown and returning Ivy POY Justin Sears will more than neutralize Kuakumensah.
From there it is about stealing wins at home and being respectable on the road. The Bears will score well enough to stay in a lot of games, so 5-7 Ivy wins is possible. In any case, they should be fun to watch.
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