Not again. The Penn football team began its 2008 season the way it has endured the last few -- with another overtime loss, this time 20-14 to Villanova, that tugged at heartstrings and will test the mettle of a young team. Penn had taken a 14-7 lead on a Mike DiMaggio run and was even with the No.

In February, athletic director Steve Bilsky became the first prominent Ivy League official to speak out against financial-aid competition among the conference schools, which he believes could give some a serious leg up on recruiting and relegate others - the poorer ones, to be blunt - to a second tier.

Last year, Harvard's football team lost just two games - one on a 40-yard pass with 19 seconds remaining to Holy Cross, the other on a fumble return for a touchdown with 30 seconds left against Lehigh. In the Ivy League, the Crimson rolled to six straight victories, setting the stage for an epic matchup with 9-0 and 11th-ranked Yale to determine the 2007 Ancient Eight champion.

On the first possession of its second game of 2007, Brown lost tailback Dereck Knight to a foot injury. He had run for 208 yards on Opening Day, but that misstep put Knight out of commission for the rest of the year. With him went any semblance of a running game.

For Jonathan Boym, the USTA Intercollegiate Competition this weekend is the beginning of his swan song, a final chance to wash away the bitter taste of his junior year campaign. Boym, along with the now-graduated Jason Pinsky, co-captained the Quakers to a 12-11 mark in their 2007-08 season.

Just two years ago, Princeton was the team to beat in the Ivy League. But while four starters from that 2006 Ivy League Championship team are still around to guide the Tigers' 2008 campaign, Princeton will need stronger defensive play to regain elite status in the Ancient Eight.

He is a leader on Villanova's defense and one of the team's best all-around athletes, but Salim Koroma is no stranger to being overshadowed. The Wildcats' senior cornerback is only the second-best defensive back to ever play in his family - his uncle Gibril Wilson is now the Oakland Raiders' starting free safety and the owner of a New York Giants' Super Bowl ring.

Right now, Penn isn't the only Ivy League team that has more questions than answers at quarterback. Yale does, too. But the Bulldogs, who last year were the league champions right up until they weren't, won't have much experience under center no matter who gets the nod.

This isn't your big brother's Dartmouth. No, the Big Green, often written off as the bottom-feeders of the Ivy League, no longer serve only as a practice squad for the rest of the conference. They may not be title contenders, but their opponents can no longer look to trips to Hanover as guaranteed wins.

While the rest of the Penn field hockey team was finishing up against Lafayette last night, midfielder Sarah Warner was in a hospital, getting stitches after picking up a knock earlier in the game. Adding insult to injury, Penn was beaten on the scoreboard, 2-0, extending its losing streak to five.

Cornell football will have a new look this year - literally. Coach Jim Knowles removed the "C" from the players' helmets in an effort to improve their effort and dedication. He needed to do something after the Big Red finished seventh in the Ivy League last year with a 2-5 record and were physically dominated by most teams.

Before his first season at Columbia began in 2006, coach Norries Wilson offered a bold prediction in an interview with Columbia College Today. "We will not win the Ivy League championship," he said. "I'm guaranteeing that." The words proved prescient, as the Lions stumbled to a 2-5 conference mark.

They've come from all over the country: New York, New York, California, New York, Maryland, New York, New York, Colorado and . New York. Although they've just arrived on campus, the men's lacrosse team's newest members should fit right in at Franklin Field - four of the nine played with either their fellow recruits or current Penn players in high school.

For a Penn squad that struggled to find its groove week after week, the defensive unit was a rare bastion of consistency. The Quakers were third in the Ivy League in points allowed (19.3) and second in rushing yards against (100) per game. But while they return a strong secondary - led by All-Ivy corners Chris Wynn and Tyson Maugle, along with free safety Jordan Manning - the Red and Blue are green up front.

His colleagues joke that he's the brains of the program. They're really only half-joking. True, football operations director Daniel Kuhn - DK to anyone inside the Franklin Field hash marks - does not call plays. Nor does he hit the road to find the next star Quakers.

Two years ago, Lafayette's Maggie Condon, then a sophomore, picked up an unassisted tally against the Quakers. As it turned out, that would be the Leopards' only goal over the schools' four meetings since 2004, all won by Penn. They battle again tonight in Easton, Pa.