COLUMN: The Ivy League: parity has its privileges

From Jeff Wieland's "A Front Row View," Fall '95 But for the 7,000 souls marooned on that Charles River shipwreck of a structure, those lights sent a signal that could not have had greater ramifications if Paul Revere had hung them there himself. Yale 14, Princeton 13, it glowed late in the fourth quarter. And so did the spirits of every Quakers fan suffering through the blustery New England day. The Tigers, with one titanic belly flop, transformed the final week of the Ivy League season into an unnerving jumble of ifs and buts every bit as confusing as the annual NFL playoff picture. (Except the Ivy League champion won't go to any playoffs, but that's an issue for another day.) Perhaps the Princeton players were thumbing through jewelry brochures for championship rings when they should have been thumbing through the Yale game plan. Perhaps they were in the library doing the commendable thing -- studying diligently -- as they often claim they are doing when the numbers on the scoreboard are not to their liking. Or maybe they just suffered a classic post-big game letdown after whipping Penn 22-9 last week. But for whatever reason, the formerly undefeated Tigers -- with the dangerous gamut of their schedule behind them -- stumbled, and the whole structure of the Ancient Eight title race collapsed right along with them. With the Elis' freak success, half of the league suddenly finds itself with a legitimate shot to earn a piece of the Ivy League championship. In fact, there is a very real chance that the Ancient Eight title could end in a four-way tie for the first time since the league's inception in 1956. Here is the scenario: Princeton and Cornell each go into the final week controlling their own destinies with only one loss apiece. However, Penn and Dartmouth, with two losses each, are still within striking distance and, by some cosmic miracle of scheduling competence, actually get to play the co-leaders this weekend. Ironically, Princeton's best friend right now is Penn, since it is the Quakers who will meet Cornell at Franklin Field while Dartmouth hosts the Tigers. A Cornell loss coupled with a Dartmouth loss means a very big championship trophy for Princeton, who would win the title outright as the only team at 6-1. On the other hand, if both Dartmouth and Cornell win, the Big Red would find itself alone atop the league standings. But it really gets interesting if both Penn and Dartmouth finish the season with victories because the Ivy League has no tie-breaking system. In that case, everybody would have two losses and the championship pie would be cut into quarters. For a race most experts had conceded to Princeton only a week ago, it would be a hell of an ending. Fortunately, it's also the most likely. There's no love lost between Penn and Cornell, especially after Mark DeRosa rallied the Quakers for an 18-14 victory in last year's finale with a broken thumb on his throwing hand. Saturday's showdown promises to be a bloodbath, in the great tradition of the days a half-century ago when the two rivals met on Thanksgiving Day with fans hanging from the Franklin Field flagpoles to catch a glimpse of the action. Penn, however, has won the last four meetings between the two teams, and 14 of its last 15 games at home. And with Miles Macik playing in the final game of his storied career, you would need a set of handcuffs to contain him. Penn 23, Cornell 16. The other marquee matchup will be decided by intangibles, which in recent years has meant Princeton will go in the tank in a big way. The last time these two teams met with anything on the line was 1993, when Keith Elias and his Tigers cronies choked against Jay Fiedler and Dartmouth only a few weeks after embarrassing themselves at Penn in a monumental meeting of undefeated teams. The Big Green also have momentum with a six-game winning streak, the home field advantage, and a penchant for taking care of the football. Dartmouth 14, Princeton 10. So take heart, all ye Quakers faithful. There's still a light of hope.