M. Hoops Ivy notebook | Quakers singing Carolina blues one more time

For the third straight year, the Quakers will have a chance to dig their heels in as they go toe-to-toe with North Carolina, who reached the Final Four last season and feature the reigning National Player of the Year, Tyler Hansbrough.

The Tar Heels announced on Tuesday that they will host Penn at 4 p.m. on Nov. 15 to open their season.

The Red and Blue lost the past two matchups - both televised on the ESPN family of networks - by a combined margin of 208-135. But the first halves were more closely contested; UNC led by nine at the break in 2006-07 and by 13 in December.

Although Penn has yet to release its schedule, Temple, Saint Joseph's and NJIT announced theirs this week, bringing the total number of known non-conference opponents to nine. Last season, the Quakers faced 17 non-Ivy teams.

Eurotrip. Brown and Columbia have both embarked on tours of Western Europe. The Bears are set to return from their 10-day trip throughout France and Brussels today, after playing games against Okapi Aalst, Vanves, Ouest Lyonnaise and AS Monaco.

To be sure, they hit all the typical tourist venues - including the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles.

But according to players' blogs, they also had more unique experiences. Junior center Matt Mullery observed that in southern France, "To our surprise, the beach itself is covered in small, round rocks rather than the usual sand."

And the Bears seem to have gotten a makeover of sorts.

"Some of the guys on the team embraced the European clothing style and purchased what we have been calling 'Euro Gear,'" Scott Friske and Steven Gruber wrote.

The Lions, meanwhile, kicked things off in Amsterdam, where among other things they visited the Anne Frank Museum. On Tuesday, they defeated Vanves Basket, 67-56, in a game in Paris that featured multiple technical fouls.

Swiss cheese. After completing his collegiate career at Princeton, Noah Savage has found a new team.

The 6-foot-5 New Jersey native, who started regularly in every campaign but his junior season and who was a captain last year, signed a one-year deal with SAM Massagno Basket in the Swiss national "A" league.

Savage averaged 10 points, 3.1 rebounds and 26.9 minutes per game with the Tigers in 2007-08.

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