Harvard establishes athletic prestige

Many of its students will join the one percent. Its football team annihilated its rivals in front of over 55,000 in enemy territory. Its basketball team forced Florida State and Central Florida to blush shades of crimson in the process of taking over Atlantis. It has long been associated with academic prestige, but never major athletic triumph. It is Harvard, and the Crimson are rewriting the history books up in Cambridge, Mass.

As sickening as it might be for many to come to terms with around here, while we focus on finding a new football coach after a 1-9 season, Harvard is basking in the glow of an incredible undefeated Ivy record and a 9-1 overall season, while its coach can celebrate setting the mark for most victories at Harvard. As we contemplate the number of wins we can expect from a men’s basketball team without its best player, the Crimson may wonder if they should even expect a loss this season.

Granted, Harvard is not a powerhouse in every sport—far from it: I can recall its baseball team being a pushover last season—but, as I’ve detailed in an earlier column, it is succeeding in the two sports that truly matter for an athletic program. Thus, I would say that Columbia would be wise in replicating what it can from the Crimson’s model, but that may be too much to ask of any Ivy League school when one considers Harvard’s supremacy this year.

Penn may have had an 18-game Ivy League winning streak, but Harvard football’s sheer dominance this season is probably more impressive when you consider the relatively even playing field that exists in the Ancient Eight. After losing its first game of the year, the Crimson seemed to go almost unchallenged for the remainder of 2011, winning each of their seven Ivy games by double-digits and finishing three games ahead of any other Ivy team. And while the craziest game of the year may have been played at Baker on the season’s final Saturday, the Crimson was busy making an enormous statement to the rival Yale Bulldogs in a 45-7 blowout in “The Game.”

In watching Harvard play the Lions this year, its depth and balance stood out. Quarterback Collier Winters took control of the game, running back Trevor Scales appeared ready to burst for an enormous run at any moment, and a myriad of different Crimson receivers and defenders contributed in a complete team effort. Indeed, Harvard’s depth this year is evidenced by Winters’ backup Chapple Colton leading the league in pass efficiency, as Colton was beyond a suitable replacement when Winters missed a few games due to injury. Running back Zach Boden created a great tandem with Scales, and it truly was a team effort for the receiving corps.

Unlike former Crimson quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s run with the Bills this year, the statistics show just how consistently commanding Harvard was. The team scored the most points and allowed the fewest, with an average margin of victory of over 20 points. The defense had the league’s most interceptions and sacks. Since week three, the Crimson scored over thirty points in every game—such a run might not be seen for years to come in the Ivy League.

Meanwhile, league play in the men’s basketball season will not get underway for over six weeks, but I am already incredibly enamored with Harvard’s 2012 squad. The Crimson may have been the league’s best team last year, but Princeton battled for a share of the title. Heading into last year’s playoff to determine the Ivy League’s postseason representative, I thought Harvard would come away with its first tournament appearance since 1946. Of course, instead it lost by a point on Doug Davis’s buzzer-beater in the league’s trademark game of the year.

A year later there is little doubt the Crimson are the best team this conference has to offer, and they are looking to make a statement to those who did not offer them what would have been a well-deserving at-large bid to the tournament last year.

The Crimson may have once again been snubbed this week, as they fell just 14 votes and two spots short of landing the team a spot in the AP top 25 after a strong 6-0 start. (This would be a rare and glorious feat for an Ivy team, even though Cornell achieved it two years ago—let the comparisons between these two teams begin.)

After three wins to open the campaign, including an impressive victory at Loyola-Marymount—a team that already beat UCLA by ten points—Harvard finally started to garner attention with its success at the Inaugural Battle for Atlantis in the Bahamas over the holiday weekend. In the tournament, the Crimson dismantled Utah, a legitimate Pac-12 opponent, controlled the second-half to knock off 22nd-ranked Florida State, and then calmly wiped out the University of Central Florida—who had beaten 4th ranked University of Connecticut (UConn) the day before—to easily win the championship. Florida State would take UConn to overtime in the third-place game, and as disappointing as it may have been that Harvard played too well to match up with the defending national champions, the two teams will face off in what should be a must-watch game a week from tonight. Nevertheless, the championship run can be considered one of the greatest series of wins in the program’s history.

Even though senior Keith Wright is a force to be reckoned with when he gets near the basket, it was once again a true team effort by Harvard. Casey, Wright, Curry, McNally, Webster, and Rivard all made their own essential contributions. Remember these names, as you will hear them again come March. Each pass seemed to have meaning, and several clutch shots, including many three-pointers, were drained at important moments. The Crimson have never been afraid to use all of the shot clock and they are usually in control of the rebounding battle—factors which almost guarantee they will hold on to their lead.

Granted, it may not always look pretty—the 28 combined first half points in the upset over FSU matched the lowest scoring half in a Division I game in the last quarter-century. Yet Amaker’s calm and collected attitude clearly shines through in Harvard’s poise setting up and making shots down the stretch. Meanwhile, the defense has never wavered—holding each opponent below 50 points in the tournament—and will become a scary force during the more defensive-minded Ivy League play.

And while it is mostly upperclassmen leading the team now, most believe Harvard’s recruiting has recently rivaled many schools throughout the nation—not just the Ivy League. Thus, while the Crimson may be a force for years to come and while they may be Columbia’s enemy, they represent the conference well with their superior play and lack of the arrogance that most college teams display.

The Ivy League is stronger than usual this year, so it will be interesting to see the number of wins that Harvard collects and if it can follow in the Big Red’s footsteps with a tournament run. With more continued success, you may even be able to say the Crimson are becoming “the Harvard of college football and basketball.”

Ryan Young is a Columbia College sophomore. He is a sports broadcaster for WKCR.