Those JE suckers might’ve grown too big to stomp. Jinjin Sun/YH

If you’ve been following this year’s Tyng Cup standings, one thing is obvious: Something is in the water over in Jonathan Edwards. At present, they stand 242.5 points ahead of No.2 Saybrook. To put this in perspective, 242.5 points is roughly 48 basketball wins, 40 football wins, or 22 soccer wins. In fact, the champion of last year’s spring season—JE, notably—earned only 241 points throughout the entire spring 2009 season. This leads us to a fun little thought experiment: Could another college still take first place?

In short, yes. Well…maybe. According to Peter Jasinski, DC ’12, the Head IM Secretary and Statistician for Yale Intramurals, a college cannot gain more than 350 points during the spring season. This is due to the shortened schedule, with divisional play and playoffs instead of the full schedule used in the fall and winter. (In contrast, the fall season alone has 720 points in contention.) These maximum values are achievable only if every team in the college has a perfect record. Unlikely, but not statistically impossible.

So which colleges are fewer than 350 points behind JE? Saybrook trails by 242.5 points, TD is behind by 270.25, and Silliman would need 339 points to close the deficit. (Trumbull College is right on the bubble, missing the cutoff by 54 points.)

Unfortunately for the Salamanders, they are already out of contention, because two losses early in the season have made reaching 350 impossible. This leaves us with TD and Saybrook, the closest thing to legitimate contenders in a year characterized by striking disparity in the competitiveness among colleges. It’s a long shot, but I think Saybrook or TD could make a run for it, and even if a pride of Lions doesn’t quite catch the Spiders, it may spice things up a bit.

If I had to choose a college to shake things up in the last month of IMs, I would have to go with Saybrook. Honestly, the boys and girls in blue have already managed to do a heck of a lot more than anyone would have expected at the beginning of the year. In under a year, they’ve gone from a sixth-place finish in 2009 to a crack at number one. This astounding turnaround has been driven by a stellar senior class, which just might go down as the best since the famous Saybrook Blue Bombers of ’36.

If these Elm St. athletes have any hope, it’ll come from the senior class. Not only is that one of their largest pools of athletes, but the fact that this is their last year could light a fire under the rest of the college. The Blue Lions are off to a great start, since they are currently undefeated in spring play.

In addition, Saybrook will not have to play JE or TD in divisional play, affording them a comparatively easy ride to the playoffs, where they’ll probably have to face one of their two rivals.

Saybrook just has to do what every coach on earth tells his team: execute and finish. They can’t allow distractions (re: senior essays) to get in the way of showing up to and winning every game. One thing they have going for them is their lead on the other colleges. Saybrook has less ground to make up than everyone else, which may make a difference down the line. On top of that, now that they’ve surpassed TD, they have only one college to focus on. If they pull this off, it’ll be one for the history books.

TD has to catch up quick. After a rough winter season, they slipped into third behind Saybrook. Then again, TD has not been a winter college in recent years, so they may have what it takes to get it done, now that games have returned to the fields.

TD came in second place in the spring 2009 season, gaining just enough points to stop JE’s march toward first. Already, there are signs of life, since the Red Lions have a perfect record so far. The deciding factor here will be the head-to-head games between JE and TD. If TD can keep those points away from JE, they just might be able to make a break for it.

However, wins against JE also help out Saybrook. In my expert opinion, TD needs a miracle. Sorry, guys.

Of course, both colleges will need help from the rest of the IM community to get the trophy in May. If JE continues to win like it has up to this point, closing the gap won’t make any difference. There is a ray of hope for the long-shot colleges: The lone loss in the top three belongs to JE, since the Spiders were upset by last-place Pierson on Wed., Mar. 24.

The end of an empire?