It used to be that people could just show up to a Harvard men’s basketball game. Now the market for tickets is as competitive as the summer job market.

Take this weekend: both of the Crimson’s games in New York have sold out—a Friday night contest at Columbia, and Saturday night’s game at Cornell, the first of two highly touted match-ups against the league’s two-time defending champions.

The Cornell game looked to be a attraction early on because the two are arguably the best and certainly the most visible teams in the Ivy League, with both having challenged top Division I programs so far this season, including Cornell’s 5-point loss to Kansas.

Columbia, meanwhile, has recent history with the Crimson, having beaten Harvard last season at home on a last-second jumper by current senior Kevin Bulger. Lions fans seem to be rushing to Levien Gym in hopes of seeing similar action. Harvard has emerged victorious only once in its last six trips to Levien Gym.

But it’s not just New York that’s going crazy for the Crimson. Tickets for Harvard’s home contests against the Killer P’s—Penn and Princeton—went up for sale today at 3 pm and are disappearing quickly.

According to senior running back Cheng Ho, who has been in contact with the Athletic Department, the 400 tickets allotted for undergraduate students have all been taken for the Princeton game, and the tickets for Penn are going fast.

Whether in the Big Apple, Ithaca, or Cambridge, Harvard basketball seems to be, for the time being, the biggest show in town.

There’s a new man in charge of the Cornell football program.

After Christmas, former Big Red coach Jim Knowles stepped down to take the defensive coordinator position at Duke, and Cornell conducted a national search for a new leader. The school found its man in Mississippi offensive coordinator Kent Austin.

The Big Red will officially present Austin in a press conference at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Knowles resigned after six seasons at the helm in Ithaca, leading his alma mater to a 26-34 overall record (16-26 in Ivy play). Cornell finished at or above .500 in three consecutive seasons (2005-2007) and finished third in the Ivy League in 2004—the first team in Ancient Eight history to follow up a winless conference season with a winning league record.

The Big Red finished in the Ivy basement last season, though, going 2-8 overall and 1-6 in conference.

Austin arrives in Ithaca after two seasons of leading the Rebel offense. In his tenure, Ole Miss recorded consecutive nine-win seasons and won two Cotton Bowls.

He will inherit a Cornell squad that finished sixth among Ancient Eight programs last year in both scoring and total offense.

Austin is the second new Ivy coach to be appointed this offseason. Princeton announced the hiring of Cincinnati Bengals assistant and Tiger alum Bob Surace on Dec. 23.

Former Princeton coach Roger Hughes was fired the day after the regular season ended.

In a phone interview last week, coveted men’s basketball recruit Majok Majok said Harvard remains his favorite.

The Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) senior is scheduled to visit more schools during spring break—probably Georgia Tech and St. Louis—and he plans to make a decision afterwards, likely once his season has ended in March.

Majok is waiting to receive the results from his recent SAT, which will help determine his eligibility for Harvard, a consistent leader in his recruitment.

He also has high major offers from Stanford, Virginia Tech, and Notre Dame, and the 6′8 forward is currently deciding which of those schools to visit.

Of his late-December visit to Fordham, Majok said it “wasn’t too bad…Harvard is a better school, basketball-wise and academic-wise.”

The big man’s stock has been rising steadily thanks to his play during his final season before college. In a win over South Kent on Jan. 9th, Majok set a school record for rebounds in a single game with 26 boards, to go along with 19 points and 5 blocked shots.

“I’ve been playing well since the start of the year,” Majok said, calling it the “best basketball of my life so far.”

Majok’s ability to elevate above the rim has made him a mainstay in highlight reels (courtesy Northfield Mount Hermon Basketball).

Majok’s size and skills in the frontcourt would greatly bolster Harvard’s future class of 2014—currently made up of Northfield Mount Hermon’s Matt Brown and Laurent Rivard, Montverde Academy’s Ugo Okam, and Jesuit’s James Moore—but it remains to be seen if Crimson coach Tommy Amaker and his staff will be able to successfully lure a top prospect away from the pull of established college basketball programs.

Senior goalie Christina Kessler of the Harvard women’s hockey team took another tour on the international circuit last week, backstopping the Canadian U-22 squad to a gold medal at the MLP Cup in Ravensburg, Germany.

Kessler blanked Switzerland in a 9-0 win in the gold-medal game—the netminder’s fourth shutout with the U-22 team, tying a Canadian record.

The senior was the winner in net in both Canada’s 4-1 preliminary win over Switzerland and a 4-3 overtime nailbiter against Sweden—the defending MLP champions—in the semifinals.

It was the third international appearance for the goaltender, who was part of Canada’s silver-medal squad at the MLP Cup last year and also played in a 2008 series against the American U-22 team.

Though Kessler’s trip overseas yielded a great deal of success, her Crimson teammates stumbled in her absence. Harvard tied Princeton, 3-3, on Friday before losing to Quinnipiac, 1-0, on Saturday despite holding a 22-shot advantage in the contest.

Rookie Laura Bellamy got her first two starts in net for the Crimson, recording a combined 21 saves over the weekend.

Harvard slipped to No. 6 in the national polls this morning, but the team has a chance to rebound against Cornell, which slipped out of the rankings today for the first time since early November, at home on Friday.

I took the opportunity tonight to watch Harvard men’s basketball recruit (committed to the future class of 2014) James Moore, a senior at Jesuit High (Calif.), as his Marauders took on the Kennedy Cougars at his home gym.

Moore’s coach Greg Harcos had heavily praised the 6′8 forward’s ability to shoot the three ball when Moore announced his commitment to Harvard in early December, and he did not disappoint tonight. Launching the ball with a high, smooth release, Moore knocked down a pair of three pointers on consecutive possessions in the game’s opening minutes. The second and third quarter each found Moore hitting a clean triple, the latter coming off an immediate catch-and-shoot. Moore’s only missed three-pointer was his last attempt, a transition three in the third quarter.

The tallest player on either team, Moore was not very quick in transition or closing out on shooters, but he took advantage of his size to tip multiple jump shots on defense. His main role on offense was as a perimeter player. Moore was unsuccessful on his two inside shots in the first half and did not look comfortable attacking the basket. In the third quarter, he did receive the ball in the post and spin for a layup, adding on the free throw. Overall, Moore spent much more time on the wing than in the post, and his style is not particularly physical.

Moore needs to add weight to his relatively thin frame, and he does not use his body as much as simply relying on his height and long arms to grab rebounds. Though neither Moore nor the Harvard coaching staff has commented on his future role, his skill set appear similar to that of current freshman Jeff Georgatos, who was also touted as a sharpshooter coming out of high school. However, Georgatos has seen limited minutes so far this season for the Crimson.