News and Notes: Wednesday Edition

Below, news and notes for Wednesday...

KHQ NBC News notes that Oregon State-Washington State "is the eighth longest continuous rivalry nationally behind Columbia/Yale (114th season), Princeton/Yale (114th season), Pennsylvania/Princeton(113th season), Columbia/Pennsylvania (112th season) and Cornell/Pennsylvania (112th season)."

NBC Sports writes, "One Ivy League team that is receiving very little press is Columbia... Columbia is off to a 1-0 start in the Ivy League after beating Cornell this past weekend. The Lions will embark on their most challenging stretch of the season over their next five games as all of them are on the road;"

Alex Rosenberg claims he's a mismatch problem for opponents and the Columbia Spectator writes, "Given the numbers he’s been putting up, it will be up to Cornell to prove him wrong this weekend in Ithaca."

Peter Andrews of the Columbia Spectator writes, "Of all the Ivy League schools, I’ve always held a special distaste for Cornell. It’s hard to say why, exactly. Maybe it’s that my enduring image of the school will always be Andy Bernard (“I went to Cornell. Ever heard of it?”), or that their marching band actually marches (utterly lame), or that they have the temerity to claim that they also 'go to school in New York.' Regardless of the rationale, this weekend’s athletic results were quite satisfying for the true Cornell-hater. Men’s and women’s basketball swept a doubleheader from the Big Red, while in the pool, men’s and women’s swimming did the same. #beatcornell, indeed."

Bwog, a Columbia Univeristy themed publication, recaps Columbia's win over Cornell. It writes:

Remember how nice your bed felt? And how happy your pets/younger siblings/old toothbrush were to see you? Columbia Men’s Basketball doesn’t, because they were too busy making their dreams come true on the court. Bwog’s Seafaring Sports Specialist Max Rettig took the names while basketball kicked the butts. On December 20, the fall semester ended. Shortly after, the basketball team started going on a tear. The Lions, who now have a winning streak of five games, began their Ivy League streak by defeating Cornell 71-61. Alex Rosenberg put up 20 points in the conference opener, earning him another fantastic game and a co-Ivy League Player of the Week nod...The Lions went 5-1 over the break, including that win over Cornell. The Lions go on an extensive 5-game road trip, beginning with their contest at Cornell on Saturday and continuing through Yale, Brown, Princeton and Penn...

Cornell RPI Watch: The RPI (Rating Percentage Index) is a measure of strength of schedule and how a team does against that schedule. It does not consider the margin of victory, but only whether or not a team won and where the game was played (home/away/neutral court). The formula is 25% team winning percentage (WP), 50% opponents' average winning percentage (OWP), and 25% opponents' opponents' average winning percentage (OOWP). (See: CollegeRPI.com for a further explanation of the formula.) The RPI may be the most influential factor in NCAA Tournament seeding. Cornell's RPI rank as of January 22, 2014 is No. 333 out of 351 total Division I teams. While neither the Ken Pomeroy or the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, the KenPom.com site ranks Cornell No. 346 in the nation, while the Sagarin Rankings (USA Today) have Cornell at No. 339. Both sites are predominantly used by fans and the media.

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