Who wants to dance?

It has long been a criticism in the Ivy League that for basketball, there is no season-ending, NCAA bid-deciding conference tournament.

But with Yale, Princeton and Penn finishing in a three-way tie after Penn's Tuesday night victory over the Tigers, the Ivy League was forced to prepare for its first ever three-team, pseudo-conference tournament in the league's history.

Now the Quakers are in a position similar to that of the best teams across the nation. They must win their league on Saturday night in order to make it to the Big Dance automatically. The possibility of an at-large bid for the Quakers is slight, even though they have been listed as a "bubble-team" throughout the week.

If Penn hopes to be a part of March Madness, a victory against Yale on Saturday night is imperative. The two teams face off at 7:30 p.m. at Kirby Sports Center at Lafayette College.

The Quakers and the Elis have split games so far this season. Both contests were highly charged, intense games that came down to the last minute.

"Penn is a very good basketball team," Yale coach James Jones said last night after the Elis 76-60 win over Princeton. "They do a very good job of going inside to Ugonna and all the guys on the perimeter are like 90 percent from the arch. We have our hands full."

On Feb. 23, the Red and Blue trailed Yale for a the majority of play, but was able to make a comeback in the last 10 minutes, eventually beating the Elis, 72-63.

Less than a month before, the Quakers unsuccessfully attempted to stage a similar coup, but their efforts weren't enough as they lost to the Elis, 83-78.

"I don't know that much changed [between games] except for a couple of plays here and there," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said after last night's Yale-Princeton matchup. "Both games were very hard fought, closely contested games. The game is just going to turn on single possessions really."

This weekend, with everything on the line, the Red and Blue can be sure that an easy victory is far out of sight.

"I think that they're going to be pretty pumped up to come out and play us, I mean its a championship," Penn forward Koko Archibong said. "Its been a long time since there's been a play off like this. It's going to be a big game. We have to come out and match their intensity and play our game."

Perhaps the most daunting aspect to the Yale squad is its balanced attack and unmatched depth. The Elis, who often substitute five at a time, rely heavily on their bench players.

Against Princeton, Yale guard Edwin Draughan grabbed 20 points and 7 rebounds, center T.J. McHugh had 21 points and eight rebounds and forward Ime Archibong finished the night with 10 points, 4 assists and four rebounds.

"I think they're so balanced," Dunphy said. "That's their great strength, they're so balanced on the inside and out and they go pretty deep. I think that's the big challenge for us."

Although the Quakers are aware of the caliber of team that they will be playing this weekend, the squad enters the matchup with confidence.

"We're on a nine-game winning streak and we're playing pretty well," Penn guard Andrew Toole said. "I think we'll be ready there's so much on the line. And we know Yale's going to be ready and we're just going to have to match it."

The Quakers, who are anxiously awaiting Saturday's matchup, were also impressed with the fan turnout to yesterday's game and hope that those loyal to the Red and Blue will be there to see the squad's most important game of the year on Saturday.

"We were sitting in their watching film and all of a sudden we heard 'Let's go Quakers!' and everyone was like, 'What's going on out here?'" Toole said. "They do a great job for us. On this winning streak, they've been a crucial part in helping to motivate us and give us energy."

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