There was no surprise when the Ivy League preseason poll was released on Tuesday afternoon. Princeton is at the top. Perhaps the surprise, if you want to call it that, was that it wasn’t unanimously in favor of the defending regular-season champion. The Tigers picked up 15 of the 16 first-place votes as they outpaced second place Yale and third place Brown to the top spot. Brown got the first-place vote that didn’t go to Princeton. Mitch Henderson’s side was expected to be in the top spot after winning the outright regular-season title — its third straight season with at least a share of the crown — and returning two First Team All-Ivy players in Caden Pierce and Xaivian Lee. Pierce, a junior, is the reigning Ivy Player of the Year after posting 16.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Lee tested the NBA Draft before returning for his junior season. The point guard had a breakout sophomore campaign in which he averaged 17.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. The dynamic duo should get support this winter from returners Blake Peters, Dalen Davis and Deven Austin, who is back after missing all of last season while recovering from a torn ACL. Defending Ivy Tournament champion Yale grabbed the second spot. You can never count out James Jones even though star center Danny Wolf went portaling, especially when the backcourt of sharpshooter John Poulakidas and defensive ace Bez Mbeng are both back in the fold. Brown is a trendy pick after reaching the Ivy final last season — a heartbreaking loss at the buzzer — but suffered a huge blow when senior forward Nana Owusu-Anane needs shoulder surgery that will likely rule him out for the season. Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Penn and Dartmouth round out the poll. The Ivy Tournament is headed for the Pizzitola Sports Center on Brown’s campus in Providence this March. Ivy League Preseason Poll 1. Princeton 127 (15) 2. Yale 108 3. Brown 92 (1) 4. Cornell 67 5. Columbia 58 6. Harvard 55 7. Penn 51 8. Dartmouth 18