Cats and dogs might not mix, but some of these Lions are looking particularly wolf-like following their impressive win against Kean (admittedly a Division III school), and they’re ready to enter a new phase in the program. Ross Chapman, of the discerning eye and a taste for silver, observes and speculates about the upcoming game. 

This year’s Lions are already looking ferocious.

In the season opener on Friday, the Men’s Basketball team took on a Division III school at 11 in the morning. Reportedly, this is because Volleyball had the gym in the evening, and the Lions couldn’t find a Division I opponent who could play so early in the season. But after the 107-62 victory for the light blue, we think that head coach Kyle Smith wanted to hide his powerful, possible lycanthropic team from the world. The Lions brutally eviscerated the Kean Cougars, refusing to relent after a 48-point first half. Tonight at 9 pm on ESPN3, Columbia looks to continue its dominance of the panthera genus against the Kansas State Wildcats. If you’re wondering, the game after that is also against Wildcats. Athletics decided to be thematic this year, so we will be too. Please enjoy this undoctored photograph of sophomore guard Kyle Castlin the night after his performance against Kean.

Don’t be fooled by Columbia’s Ivy League reputation. The Lions are floating somewhere around #100 of 351 D-1 programs in most preseason polls, and these upcoming games against mid-tier Big Ten and Big 12 schools aren’t projected to be slaughters. Sports Illustrated has the Lions looking stronger than Kansas State (#107 vs. #118), while CBS Sports puts Columbia at #73 against Northwestern’s #82. Expectations for the Lions are as high as they’ve been in nearly 50 years. In their first game of the season, only a one-sided clobbering would look good for Columbia. And did the Lions ever look out for blood on Friday—60 rebounds, 10 blocks, and 46 attempted three-pointers showed the greed of this Lions offense. They know that this has to be their year.

The Men’s Basketball team ended last year on a sour note, dropping the last four and finishing with a 5-9 Ivy record. Maodo Lo put the team on his back as much as he could in that final stretch, averaging 26.5 points per game in his last six contests while missing only 2 minutes of 120 total across the final three matches. But Maodo’s not alone this year. Alex Rosenberg and Grant Mullins, two seniors who missed last year due to injury, are back on the squad. The literally huge trio of junior forwards should be reaching their peak, and center Connor Voss has tall aspirations for the season. Sophomore Kyle Castlin, after an incredible rookie campaign, will be stronger than ever once his ankle heals up a bit, and his fellow CC ’18-er Nate Hickman, relegated to garbage time last season, netted 15 points on Friday, capitalized by a couple of resounding dunks. And the freshman class acquitted itself nicely against Kean, scoring 32 points in their first match.

For a refreshing change, then, Maodo Lo does not have to do all the work. “It’s good to have depth,” he reflected after the win against Kean, “because you never know when you can use it.” Lo felt that hard last year. Rosenberg and Mullins were sorely missed in the squad’s leadership. When coach Smith came to the press conference after the game, he brought Lo, Rosenberg, and Mullins with him, sending a clear message that these are the leaders of the pride. Lo got great leadership experience over the summer, playing with fellow collegiate athletes in South Korea and competing on the FIBA German National Team with the likes of Dirk Nowitzki and Dennis Schroder. Now he feels more controlled, more confident, and more experience. But he’s still humble. When asked about how he stacks up to the other Ivy elite, he brushed it off, saying only, “I feel like according to last season, I was one of the leading players in the Ivy League” (emphasis added). He’s a leader, but not a boaster. Luckily for him, he won’t be the only flashy Lion on the court.

This is our year, if there ever will be one. The preseason polls predicted a three-horse race between Columbia, Yale, and Princeton. Harvard, perennial frontrunners of the Ivies, graduated too many of their important pieces, and with Siyani Chambers on the bench, they have a down year. But a stacked Crimson class of 2020 recruiting season spells a clear message for the top of the Ivy pack – it’s now or never. A lot of voter’s loved Princeton’s balanced game, absurd home-court advantage, and powerful junior class. But with the recent injury of star guard Hans Brace, the Tigers just lost a ton of momentum.

So Yale may be the biggest competitor for the Ivy crown and its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Yale, who knocked Columbia out of the CIT in 2014. Yale, who seeks their own redemption after two awful finishes to their last two games of 2015 against Dartmouth and Harvard. Yale, whose forward Justin Sears poses the biggest threat to Maodo Lo’s Ivy League Player of the Year coronation. There’s obviously a lot of basketball between now and the final game of the year, a match-up in Levien against the Bulldogs in March. But it’s not too early to get excited. These Lions are out for blood.