Some things have changed from last year. Others stayed the same.
Just like last year, the path to the Ivy League title won't run through Philadelphia.
But unlike last season's muddied title-sharing between Yale and Princeton, this year's Ivy championship race will produce an unambiguous winner by Saturday evening.
(11)Yale (9-0, 6-0) at (25)Harvard (7-2, 6-0)
Faced with the chance for a fourth Ivy League title with the Crimson, Harvard coach Tim Murphy couldn't resist a bit of exaggeration when he spoke with his team this week.
"I told them, no one expected you to be here," Murphy told reporters this week.
That's not exactly true, given that the Crimson were the consensus third-place preseason pick and the clear choice to challenge frontrunner Yale once the No. 2 Quakers faltered. But given the nature of the game - check that, The Game - he's facing on Saturday, he can be excused for the embellishment.
Harvard and Yale enter the signature game of the Ivy season undefeated for the first time since 1968. Yale has seldom faced a close game this year, while Harvard has recoverd from some early troubles at quarterback to win all of its League games so far, including a 23-7 win over Penn last week.
"Chris Pizzotti managed a very good game, played a very cerebral game," Murphy said of his quarterback, who is now 10-1 as a starter.
This can fairly be labeled the biggest game of his career, especially since anyone who remembers the last time The Game was this big is really showing their age. Both teams walked away 'winners' after that 1968 game, but the same thing likely won't happen again.
"I was 12 years old when they had the 29-29 tie and just fresh coming off the Red Sox pennant race, and it seems in some respects like a million years ago and in some respects just like yesterday," Murphy said.
It will doubtless feel like a million years ago once Yale's Mike McLeod rumbles ahead for his first big gain. At that point, all bets are off and all history becomes meaningless.
Princeton (2-4, 3-6) at Dartmouth (3-3, 3-6)
Nothing spices up a game without title implications like a silly trinket for the winner.
Princeton and Dartmouth won't disappoint when they walk on the field to fight for "The 1917 Sawhorse Dollar."
The original dollar was presented to a Princeton alum by a Dartmouth one after the latter lost a friendly wager over the 2002 game. It's since been framed, and is kept by the winning team every year.
And this year, there might be a little more doubt hanging over the winner.
Perennial Ivy doormats for the past several years, the Big Green have cleaned up their act, and they have wins over Penn and Cornell to show for it.
Meanwhile, Princeton's offense has sputtered out six points in its last two games. That won't do against the high-powered revolving door of Dartmouth quarterbacks, who have put up almost 16 times as many.
Still, defense is a real problem for the Big Green, who have yet to concede fewer than 28 points to a team not named Penn. They are in chilly Hanover, though, where they've picked up all of their wins this year.
Brown (4-5, 3-3) at Columbia (1-8, 0-6)
That first Ivy win has been pretty elusive for the Lions this season. Hosting Brown tomorrow, that win might just slip by this season.
Brown brings a strong passing game with the duo of quarterback Michael Dougherty and wide receiver Bobby Sewall.
Dougherty completed 41 of 50 passes last weekend as Sewall racked up five touchdowns and 285 yards of offense.
Better luck next year, Columbia.
