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This past week marked the beginning of conference play for metropolitan area schools in the Metro Atlantic and Northeast conferences. While Army, Fordham and St. John's were out picking up non-conference wins tonight, a Garden State rivalry took center stage in the NEC with FDU visiting Monmouth. The Hawks, thanks to an efficient half-court offense and confusing matchup zone, controlled the game for the first twenty-eight minutes or so with a lead as large as fifteen points.

Ranking the 8 Ivy League coaches is no easy task:  One of them has never been a head coach before, two others coached their 1^st Ivy games last year, and none have served a full decade as an Ivy head coach.  As we get ready for another college basketball season, here is a look at who is doing the best job of keeping up with the Joneses...literally.

 

1. Glen Miller - Penn

(223-184 record in 17 years as head coach at Connecticut College/Brown/Penn)

We're just about finished with the first month of the season in the metropolitan area, and it's become quite obvious who the best team in the area is right now. Seton Hall has gotten off to a 6-1 start, which includes a pair of gutty comebacks in Puerto Rico to finish third in that in-season tournament. Jeremy Hazell has shown himself to be one of the most explosive scorers in the Big East; what has come in his sophomore campaign (23.3 ppg; tops in the Big East) is a level of consistency that wasn't always present last season.

2008-09 Columbia Basketball Preview

Lions must replace four starters

 

Schedule (key games in bold)

 

November 14^th @ Fordham (given Fordham's rebuilding as well, the Lions could win this game)

16^th @ Seton Hall 

Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic 

21^st Bryant 

22^nd UMBC/Quinnipiac (win over Bryant could set up final against defending America East champs)

25^th Albany 

29^th Stony Brook 

December 3^rd Wagner 

Raphielle Johnson's Metro preview & weekly Metro rankings & updates are a staple of fans in NYC's tri-state region. To get things going, here is Raphielle's 23 team NYC Metro preseason ranking and all-Metro teams. Individual team previews will up shortly!

 

Preseason Metro Ranking

 

Teams ranked in the 12-17 area of the final rankings are clearly in a position to either move up or down next season. The team with the best chance to make a significant move up the standings in their league would have to be Manhattan (12-19), who return all key contributors next season. Guard Antoine Pearson was a Third Team All-MAAC selection this season, and swingman Devon Austin went a long way in establishing himself as this team’s leader in the MAAC Tournament.