It wasn't the blowout that it has been the past two years, but a Tyler Hansbrough-less North Carolina team beat the Quakers in their season-opener, 86-71, last night in Chapel Hill, N.C. Penn sophomore Tyler Bernardini picked up where he left off last year, leading all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-18 shooting.

Torn labrum. Broken hand. Broken toe. Fill-in-the-blank hip. Fill-in-the-blank foot. These are just some of the injuries beleaguering Penn's swimming teams. But the Quakers will have to rebound quickly, as the men travel to Columbia for a 7 p.m. meet today, and the women host the Lions on Sunday at 2 p.

In 2005-06, it was Eric Osmundson. In 2006-07, it was Ibrahim Jaaber. Last year, it was Brian Grandieri. For the last three seasons, the Quakers have had a clear floor general and locker room presence, a leader both on and off the court. But this year, with five seniors - Kevin Egee, Cam Lewis, Aron Cohen, Brennan Votel and Tommy McMahon - on the Red and Blue's roster, it is unclear who will step into the captain's shoes.

Tomorrow is all about a second chance. When the Penn football team lost to Brown, 34-27, on Homecoming two Saturdays ago, the Quakers needed some help if they wanted to win an Ivy League title. But with Brown's 13-3 loss to Yale on Saturday and Penn's 14-9 victory over Princeton on Friday, the Quakers (5-3, 4-1 Ivy) find themselves tied with the Bears atop the league standings.

Last year: North Carolina 106, Penn 71. Year before: North Carolina 102, Penn 64. Things that have changed between then and now: not much. As Penn heads to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a date tomorrow with the first-ever unanimous preseason No. 1, for the final game of this three-year set with the Tar Heels, is there anything left to say except yikes? True, the Quakers have traveled this road twice before and have briefly put on a good show each time, but their problems are compounded this time.

Thirty-seven years ago, Disney World had just opened and Richard Nixon's approval ratings were over 50 percent. But 1971 was also the last time that the Penn men's soccer team hosted an all-or-nothing game for the Ivy League title. Fast forward: Coach Rudy Fuller and the Quakers (10-2-4, 4-1-1 Ivy) are trying to win the program's first conference title since 2002 this Saturday at 7:30 p.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to watch three different Penn teams - football, men's soccer and women's soccer - compete against rival Princeton. And in New Jersey, no less. I was able to accomplish this Quakers trifecta because of one of the more under-appreciated quirks of the Ivy League, something called "jamboree weekends.

Though its season hasn't even started yet, the men's swimming team is already plagued by injuries. Senior Steve Martucci underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum last month, and on Tuesday, senior Chaz Maul broke his hand. Freshman diver Jeff Cragg is nursing a broken toe, but with two of his four elder statesmen down, coach Mike Schnur has been forced to rely on more of his younger swimmers.

This is what March Madness clip reels are made of, what Dickie V likes to think about before launching into his trademark "slippaaa still fits!" routine. An undersized, undermanned challenger taking it to the major conference power with future NBA talent on its sideline? Ivy League teams weren't supposed to do this anymore, not in 2006.

Kelly Scott's teammates have no problem with her horsing around - off the court, that is. Scott, a senior on the women's basketball team, picked up horseback riding as a youngster on a weekend excursion with her mom and continued competitively into high school.

Keiffer Garton may have arrived, but Robert Irvin is going nowhere. The senior has been plagued by a sore shoulder and a groin injury he picked up against Brown. But he's taking on a light workload in practice this week in the hopes of playing Saturday against Harvard.

Let's make one thing clear - Jill Ottinger doesn't throw like a girl. There's nothing too conspicuous about the 30-year-old Abington, Pa., native and professional chemist. That is, until she lofts a football and hits her receiver in stride. Last Sunday, her venue was Drexel's Buckley Field, at tryouts for the Philadelphia Firebirds, a professional women's football team that competes in the Independent Women's Football League.

They may still be best friends, but they are no longer teammates. When Penn women's basketball senior forward Carrie Biemer gets set for tip-off in Friday's season-opener, she will do so without forward Maggie Burgess, who started 20 of the team's 29 games last season.

Does the early bird get the win? The Quakers certainly hope so. As the men's basketball team gets set for its season-opener against No. 1 North Carolina on Saturday, the preseason preparations have been subject to one slight scheduling change: 7 a.m. practices every Tuesday and Thursday morning.

As women's basketball coach Pat Knapp analyzed a disappointing 7-22 campaign, he noticed a clear and disturbing trend. In 19 of 29 games -- many of them in the Ivy League - Penn's opponents started a small lineup, which created matchup problems for the Quakers.

PRINCETON, N.J., Nov. 7 - Friday marked the 100th game between Penn and Princeton, but at times the real matchup seemed to be Princeton vs. The Clock. The Quakers' 14-9 win was smashmouth football at its best, with Penn's offensive scheme predicated on running the ball and then running it some more, preventing the Tigers' offense from getting much time on the field.