For half of the teams in the Ivy League, the real season starts tomorrow.
Four teams -- Brown, Yale, Penn and Princeton -- all sit at 3-1 with three to play.
The highlight is that all of the 3-1 teams will play each other this week.
No. 22 Brown (6-1, 3-1) at Yale (3-4, 3-1)
Of the teams currently deadlocked atop the standings, the Bears are in the best position to win.
Having disposed of the Quakers quite handily last week, the Elis present the only real test before Brown closes out the season with Dartmouth and Columbia -- currently next-to-last and last, respectively, in the league.
Tomorrow, Brown senior Nick Hartigan and the Bears' vaunted offense, and well as junior Zak DeOssie and the defense, will be in top form as they head into New Haven, Conn., seeking to in effect wrap up a share of the title.
Yale and Brown have had quite a history, with the Elis holding a commanding lead overall, but Bears have taken five of the last six. Last time the game was held at the Yale Bowl -- two years ago -- the teams combined for 99 points in the Bears' 55-44 win.
And with the way Nick Hartigan has been running the ball of late, scoring 55 points is still a possibility.
Last week, though, the Elis showed they could provide some fireworks too -- albeit against a much inferior opponent.
Yale racked up 570 offensive yards and 31 second-quarter points in a rout of Columbia. While Brown boasts the best record in the league, it also has the second-worst defense. And although they've lacked consistency, Yale quarterback senior Jeff Mroz and freshman running back Mike McLeod have shown flashes of top-notch ability this season.
If the Bears want to stay on the inside track to the Ivy League title, they will have to put some points on the board.
The Elis face a tougher schedule on the road to the Ivy League title. After hosting Brown, they head to Princeton before finishing with "The Game" against Harvard at home.
So for Yale, this is truly a must-win.
Cornell (3-4, 1-3) at Dartmouth (2-5, 1-3)
While Penn and Princeton and Brown and Yale meet to decide the Ivy League title, Cornell and Dartmouth are meeting to decide not much of anything.
With first place out of reach and last place seeming safe in the hands of Columbia, this game is all about bouncing back.
The Big Red is looking to bounce back from a game that it had lost, then won, then lost again in dramatic fashion at Princeton.
Meanwhile, the Big Green hopes to rebound from an old-fashioned butt-whipping at the hands of Harvard last week.
This one could go either way, especially if the Dartmouth defense lives up to its potential against Cornell's two-man rushing attack.
Harvard (4-3, 2-2) at Columbia (2-5, 0-4)
The Lions host the Crimson in that other New York-Boston rivalry. And let's just say this one should turn out more like the 2004 version of the ALCS than the 2003 version.
