Crunching some numbers

So your Lou Gehrig Division standings look like this going into the weekend's games:

Penn 9-5
Cornell 5-5
Princeton 6-6
Columbia 7-9

First off, is the obvious scenario. If Penn sweeps Princeton and its make-up doubleheader against Cornell, Penn wins the division at 15-5, and will have a great chance to host the Ivy League Championship Series.

But even if Penn can win three of four against Princeton, and then splits its against Cornell (likely early next week), the Quakers will finish 13-7. That would mean Cornell would have to go 7-1 against Princeton and Columbia to tie Penn. That's something for the Quakers to shoot for.

If the Quakers lose two to Princeton but sweep the Big Red, they will still finish 13-7, which will eliminate the Tigers and force Cornell to sweep Princeton and Columbia.

However, if Penn only wins three of its last six games, finishing at 12-8, things get a little dicier. That leaves Princeton still alive, and gives Cornell a chance to go only 6-2 or 5-3 to tie (depending on which games Penn wins), and Penn can do nothing about it.

On the softball side, it's a similar situation, but a little more advanced in time. The South Division looks like this:

Penn 12-4
Cornell 8-4
Princeton 8-4
Columbia 7-9

This time, Penn has to go to Princeton, and even a sweep doesn't guarantee the Quakers anything, as Cornell could win out over Columbia and Princeton to tie Penn -- but the Quakers would be in a great position. Three wins would also eliminate the Tigers, but then Cornell can go 7-1 to tie.

Meanwhile, if Penn splits, things get interesting. Princeton would have to sweep Cornell to tie, and Cornell would have to go 6-2 against Columbia and Princeton to tie. So in that case, making the Princeton-Cornell series meaningful may actually help Penn, which means that two wins might be better than three.

So the bottom line for both teams, is, two wins this weekend is a must, which puts both squads in very good positions in their divisions.