Ellie Clark, Sports editor
Men’s basketball — No. 1 in the Ivy League
Penn men’s basketball went dancing last year, and the team has the talent to do it again. Despite losing some roster spots to graduation and the transfer portal, the Quakers managed to retain most of their power players in the off-season while picking up key additions from the portal and the high school class of 2026.
Senior standout forward TJ Power looks to strengthen his bid for Ivy Player of the Year, but he very well may be challenged by someone on his own squad: junior guard and Notre Dame transfer Sir Mohammed. Mohammed dropped thirty-two points en route to Team Blue’s victory at the Red and Blue Scrimmage in October. If the Quakers manage to keep up their momentum, there will be no stopping the Red and Blue from claiming the Ivy Madness crown once again.
Women’s basketball — No. 5 in the Ivy League
Penn women’s basketball ended last season on a low note, missing its first Ivy Madness tournament since the 2021-22 season. Due to the sizable talent gap between the top three teams in the conference — Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia — and everyone else, it’s impossible to predict whether or not the Quakers will ultimately earn an Ivy Madness berth. Still, a middle-of-the-road run is more than likely for head coach Mike McLaughlin’s latest squad.
There was a lot of turnover in the Ivy League during the off-season and the Quakers weren’t exempt from the curse, losing core members of the rotation such as 2026 Wharton graduate Saniah Caldwell and 2026 College graduate Simone Sawyer. However, Penn looks to replace its seasoned veterans with new talent outside the Ivy League, bringing in two promising transfer talents, junior forward Candice Lienafa and sophomore guard Christina Pham.
Perhaps these new additions will provide some much needed synchronicity on the court, but I expect the Quakers will start the season strong before embarking on yet another 7-7 conference run.
Emilie Chi, Sports editor
Men’s basketball — No. 1 in the Ivy League
Last season went down in history.
After qualifying for Ivy Madness, Penn men’s basketball made a historic run to secure the conference tournament title, earning a spot in March Madness for the first time in eight years. Although the Quakers lost primary scorer 2026 College graduate Ethan Roberts to graduation, Ivy Madness hero Power, and junior guard AJ Levine will return to help the Quakers defend their Ivy Madness title. With Fran McCaffery’s expertise at the coach’s seat, I’m optimistic in Penn’s offensive potential this season. I think the Quakers have another shot at a March Madness berth. If you haven’t had the time to tune into men’s basketball, now is the time.
Women’s basketball — No. 4 in the Ivy League
Despite losing offensive presences in Sawyer and Caldwell, the women’s basketball team has a strong core of returning scorers in senior guard Mataya Gayle, junior forward Katie Collins, and senior center Tina Njike. And let’s not forget transfers Lienafa and Pham who will be helpful additions that make the team only stronger. Penn ended last season with a 7-7 Ivy Conference record, and if the Red and Blue can put together consistent performances, I see the Quakers securing the fourth spot and heading to Ivy Madness. Like the men’s basketball team showed last season, during Ivy Madness, it’s anyone’s game.
Javier St. Remy, deputy Sports editor
Men’s basketball — No. 1 in the Ivy League
There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the Quakers will be first in the Ivy standings come March and win a second consecutive Ivy Madness title.
Last season, the Quakers fell to a 9-10 record on Jan. 30 after dropping a game to Columbia. Everything changed after that loss. The Quakers would go on to win nine of their last 11 games, with one of those losses against Illinois in the first round of the NCAA tournament, a team that made it all the way to the Final Four.
This season, the Quakers are bringing back four of their five starters that made that incredible run possible. With Yale having lost three of their top four scorers by points per game to either the transfer portal or graduation, I don’t see a team coming close to Penn in terms of talent or experience.
Oh yeah, and the Quakers just happen to have the best player in the Ivy League, Power. After playing well during the first half of the season, Power ascended to a different stratosphere in the last 15 games of the season. During the last half of the season, the Duke/Virginia transfer averaged over 18 points per game while shooting an inconceivable 47% from the deep on over seven attempts a game over that span.
Although the loss of Roberts — Penn’s leading scorer and an All-Ivy Second Team selection — hurt the Quakers, they retain uber efficient high volume shooter senior guard/forward Michael Zanoni, who could easily take on more scoring responsibility.
All this to say, the Quakers are a lock to be the best team in the Ivy. Everyone else is playing for second.
Women’s basketball — No. 3 in the Ivy
Penn women’s basketball had a disappointing 2025-26 season, finishing outside of the top four in the conference for the first time in 14 years. They started the season off with a 10-3 record, but struggled in conference play, losing seven of their last 14 games.
However, the Quakers were far better than their place in the conference standings suggest. They went 17-10 on the season, their best overall record since the 2019-20 season.
Their stars also show promise. Gayle has shown improvements across the board from her sophomore year with increases in points per game, field goal percentage, and three point percentage. Collins also took another leap going from 10 points per game to 13 points.
Though her field goal percentage decreased from her first year campaign, that was likely due to her new focus on taking shots from the deep. Collins’ three point accuracy skyrocketed from an above average 33.7% to an incredible 37.5%. If Collins and Gayle continue this progression, the Quakers should have a far better conference record.
I do think that the Ivy League is very stacked at the top. Princeton and Columbia were the number one and two seeds in the Ivy respectively and look poised to have big seasons again in 2026-27.
Columbia returns with last year’s Ivy Player of the Year guard Riley Weiss who averaged over 20.1 points per game while leading the conference in three point percentage. Princeton also has four of their top five scorers by points per game from its Ivy League Championship team from last season.
Although I do think these teams will finish ahead of the Red and Blue, the Quakers will be back in the Ivy Tournament with a chance at the Ivy Madness title come March.
Kaia Feichtinger-Erhart, deputy Sports editor
Men — No. 2 in the Ivy League
I’m only sticking with second place because a repeat would simply feel too good to be true. The Quakers are coming off of a season that saw them surpassing all expectations by winning the Ivy Madness title. But let’s not forget that in the regular season standings, Penn only came in third, beaten by Yale and Harvard.
The Quakers have the advantage that they are bringing back four of last year’s starters, only losing Roberts to graduation. The talent McCaffery has brought in could easily cover up Roberts’ departure, and a team led by Power should not be discounted. Still, Harvard has two All-Ivy returners in guard Robert Hinton and forward Thomas Batties II, who are entering their third year of playing together. In regular-season play, I expect this experience to give Crimson the edge. I make no predictions for what could happen during Ivy Madness, however — the Quakers are a squad that knows what it feels like to win and will undoubtedly chase that feeling this season.
Women — No. 4 in the Ivy League
After a year of missing out on Ivy Madness, I think the Quakers will find a way into this year’s tournament. The conference top three of Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia will be hard to reach, but Penn was only one win short of Brown last season, a result that should be easy to flip.
The Quakers may have graduated starters like Sawyer and Caldwell, but they retain a strong core, with a tried frontcourt pairing of Collins and Njike. They’ve also made some notable additions like Pham, who shot 37.5% from the three-point line at Fairfield last season. Like in previous years, the Red and Blue’s offense will run through Gayle. It will be her final year at Penn and it’s hard to imagine her missing out on the chance to play at home for Ivy Madness.
Source: www.thedp.com
