1979–80 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team

The 1979–80 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team captain was John W. Rogers, Jr.[2] The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the University campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the co-champion of the Ivy League, but lost a one-game playoff and failed to earn an invitation to either the 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament or the 1980 National Invitation Tournament.[3]

1979–80 Princeton Tigers men's basketball
Ivy League Co-Champion
Ivy League one-game playoff, Lost
ConferenceIvy League
Record15–15 (11–4, 1st-t Ivy)
Head coach
CaptainJohn W. Rogers, Jr.
Home arenaJadwin Gymnasium
Seasons
1979–80 Ivy League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Penn 11 3   .786 17 12   .586
Princeton 11 3   .786 15 15   .500
Brown 9 5   .643 12 14   .462
Yale 8 6   .571 16 10   .615
Harvard 6 8   .429 11 15   .423
Columbia 5 9   .357 10 16   .385
Dartmouth 3 11   .214 6 20   .231
Cornell 3 11   .214 5 19   .208
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The team played a schedule that included eventual national champion Louisville, other members of the 48-team NCAA tournament field such as #3 seed St. John's, #4 seed Duke and #8 Villanova as well as the Big Ten Conference's Michigan State and the Big East Conference's Seton Hall.[2][4] The team recovered from a slow start in which it lost its first five and eleven of its first thirteen games to post a 15–15 overall record and an 11–4 conference record.[2] After splitting the regular season series one win apiece on home game victories and finishing tied with identical 11–3 conference records, Princeton and Penn Penn faced each other in a March 4, 1980, one-game Ivy League playoff game. Princeton lost the game which was held at the Kirby Sports Center at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, by a 50–49 margin, thus giving Penn the Ivy League Championship and an invitation to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Princeton would avenge this loss the following year when the two teams finished tied for the conference regular season title again.[2][3][5] The team was led by first team All-Ivy League selection Randy Melville.[6]

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1979-80 Ivy Group Season Summary
  2. ^ a b c d "Men's Basketball Record Book • All-Time Results". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton Athletic Communications. June 12, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  3. ^ a b 2009–10 Ivy League Basketball Media Guide. p. 30. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  4. ^ "1980 Men's College Basketball Bracket". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  5. ^ Princeton Athletic Communications (June 22, 2009). "Men's Basketball Record Book • Men's Basketball in the Postseason". GoPrincetonTigers.com. Princeton University. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  6. ^ 2009–10 Ivy League Basketball Media Guide. p. 36. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)