In the real world of college basketball, which is closing in on its March Madness phase, it is simply another step in a season that has seldom followed form.

Start with tonight’s game at Harvard, where Ivy League leader Cornell comes to Lavietes Pavilion for a meeting with Tommy Amaker’s Crimson.

Three weeks ago, the anticipation for this matchup was off the charts. But that was before Cornell whacked Harvard, 86-50, in Ithaca, N.Y. When Harvard dropped a 3-point decision at home to Princeton a week later, the Crimson found themselves two games behind a Big Red team that showed few signs of weakness.

That changed dramatically when last-place Penn stunned the Big Red at Penn Feb. 12. And when Cornell bounced back the next night by handing Princeton its first Ivy loss, the landscape changed again. Harvard still had a chance to control its destiny in its quest for its first Ivy League title ever and first NCAA bid since 1946.

It will be anything but easy, since Harvard almost certainly must win the remainder of its games: Cornell tonight, Columbia tomorrow, home against Brown and Yale next weekend, then a road set at Penn and Princeton. If the Crimson can sweep, they would be 12-2 in the league, which presumably would be Cornell’s record, too, barring a meltdown.

In the event of a tie, Cornell and Harvard would have a playoff game for the Ivy League title at a neutral site. Although there was some early speculation that the Ivy could get two NCAA bids if Cornell didn’t win the title, that essentially vanished with Cornell’s loss to Penn.

It is still a long shot for Harvard, considering the one-sided loss in Ithaca. But if the Crimson can reverse the trend tonight, the road to redemption seems viable.

For Colonial Athletic Association co-leader Northeastern, tomorrow’s game against Louisiana Tech is a BracketBuster, but coach Bill Coen’s main task is to have his team win its final two games, against Hofstra and George Mason, both of whom the Huskies already have beaten this season. Do that and they will finish 15-3 in the CAA, which will earn at least a tie with Old Dominion for the regular-season title. Since the Huskies also beat ODU, the tiebreaker should be in their favor, which would guarantee them an NIT bid no matter what happens in the CAA Tournament.

Coen feels the game against Louisiana Tech will be a break for his team, in one sense.

“A fresh face against different competition,’’ said Coen, who has done such a good job that he no doubt will see his name mentioned as high-profile jobs open in the next few weeks. “But we also know that if we can win this game, it should help in terms of an at-large [NCAA] bid.

“At the very least, it will put us on the table for discussion. And when you don’t play in a BCS conference, that is all you can hope for. And the television exposure is great.’’

At Chestnut Hill, two teams headed south (not a good idea at this time of year) will face off when defending national champion North Carolina comes to Conte Forum for an ACC meeting with Boston College.

Both teams are coming off bad losses - BC by 15 points to Florida State and North Carolina by 17 to Georgia Tech. Both are 3-8 in the ACC, and realistically, both need to win the ACC Tournament to get an NCAA bid.

The last team to win the NCAA title and not make the 65-team field the next season was Florida after it won its second consecutive NCAA title in 2007.

BC must win the remainder of its ACC regular-season games to even get consideration for an NIT bid.

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.