Harvard, who many felt was snubbed from a tournament spot in 2011, is finally heading back to the tournament after clinching the Ivy League title with Pennsylvania's loss to Princeton on Tuesday night.
Tommy Amaker, who took over as head coach at Harvard in 2007, led the Crimson to their third-straight 20-win season in 2012, and they're hoping for even more Ws come tournament time.
Harvard (26-4) started the season on an eight-game winning streak until falling to another NCAA bubble team in Connecticut in early December. A heartbreaking loss at Fordham was the only other non-conference blemish on the Crimson's resume, which also included big wins over tournament contenders Central Florida, Florida State and at Vermont.
A mid-February loss at Princeton and a one-point debacle against Penn late last week were the only defeats suffered for the Crimson in the Ivy League this season. Harvard finished a school-best 12-2 in the Ivy, tying the same record set last season.
Harvard is certainly hoping that this tournament run heads in a direction similar to the school's last appearance over 66 years ago. That 1946 team ended up making it all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to Ohio State, 46-38.
Amaker and the Crimson players are definitely excited about the opportunity, and are likely relieved that Princeton helped them clinch the spot, as a Penn win on Tuesday would have forced a one-game playoff for the automatic bid — a game Harvard dropped to Princeton on a last-second buzzer beater in 2011.
Look for Harvard to rely on a pair of forwards to get them through the tournament. Junior Kyle Casey (11.3) and senior Keith Wright (10.7) lead the team in scoring, while Wright dominates the boards with 8.1 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, junior Brandyn Curry leads the team in assists with better than five per game, and sophomore Laurent Rivard provides instant offense off the bench with 9.7 points in just over 25 minutes per game.
As for seeding, the Crimson's stellar record could feasibly get them into the top half (seeds 1-8) of any region, but the more likely landing spot will probably be somewhere between a No. 7 and No. 11 seed (where ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has them).
