It wasn't very long ago that the Ivy League men's basketball season consisted of a two-horse race, with each contender starting with the letter 'P.' Since the start of the 1958-59 season, the Ancient Eight has crowned 54 champions and co-champions. Princeton and Penn have earned a combined 50 of them.

Yale didn't exactly have a stellar non-conference season at 5-9. But after two contests with Brown, the Bulldogs boast a five-game win streak and their first 2-0 Ivy start since 2001-2002. Two tight wins over last year's Ancient Eight runner-up are impressive.

Depending on how far one can stretch the transitive property, Dartmouth could very well stake a de facto claim to the nation's top spot. The perennial Ivy League bottom-feeder turned heads in the Ivy League this Saturday by making neat work of Harvard in overtime, putting away the Crimson by a decisive 75-66 score in Boston.

The last time Carrie Biemer scored fewer than 10 points in a game was Jan. 15, 2008, in a 67-50 loss at Seton Hall. As fate would have it, Biemer's 27-game double-digit scoring streak was snapped yesterday by that same Seton Hall squad, as the senior captain was held to nine points and zero rebounds.

Change is the hot word nowadays. But what about fairness? In a mad rush to dole out carrots, it's easy to forget the importance of the stick. That's why I'm not sure conference tournaments are such a good idea - in any sport, in any league, including Ivy League lacrosse, one of the conference's shining beacons of success amid a sea of backsliding mediocrity.

Say what you want about Tommy Amaker. Just don't say he doesn't win. In just its second year under Amaker, the historically derelict Harvard appears to be reviving. The Crimson (9-7, 1-1 Ivy) put up a better-than-expected performance in Ivy League play last year, and started the 2008-09 season with a head-turning non-conference performance.

After thirteen days off, the Penn women's basketball team is looking to start their season anew. The Quakers (3-10, 0-1 Ivy) will face Seton Hall (13-6) at the Palestra tonight in their final non-conference matchup of the season. But the Quakers aren't underestimating the significance of the game on their way to the start of the Ivy season.

With 24 seasons of Big 5 hostilities in his memory bank, Phil Martelli knows full well what the Philadelphia fan is capable of. Which helps explain why the Saint Joseph's coach might have expected worse from an electric sellout crowd at the Palestra Saturday night.

Ask recently terminated Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards about the concept of a "good loss," and he'd be quick to inform that "You play to win the game!" Bring up the Penn wrestling team's Friday loss to No. 4 Nebraska (12-2-1) with Quakers coach Rob Eiter, and you will get a very different response.

With a dozen of his friends watching and the crowd "oohing" and "aahing" his every move, Hicham Laalej laced a forehand down the left side of the court. The ball whizzed just over the net and landed inches inside the white line for yet another winner. It was that kind of day for the revamped men's tennis team and its highly-touted transfer in its regular season opener against Drexel.

The last time Carrie Biemer scored fewer than 10 points in a game was last Jan. 15, in a 67-50 loss at Seton Hall. As fate would have it, Biemer's 27-game double-digit scoring streak was snapped on Monday by that same Seton Hall team, as the senior captain was held to nine points and zero rebounds.

No one argues that undefeated Trinity isn't the best squash team in the nation. The question is what to take away from a loss on the inevitable long ride home. The No. 7 Quakers became the No. 1 Bantams' 191st consecutive victim Saturday afternoon in a 9-0 loss in Hartford, Conn.

For captain Emily Goodwin, Saturday's squash match against No. 3 Trinity was more than just a battle of top-ranked teams - the New York native's best friend from home, Chauncey Kerr, is the captain of the Bantams. Nevertheless, the history of the two captains contributed to a heated match, literally and figuratively, at Ringe Courts.

Laura Klick climbed out of Sheerr Pool in ecstasy after breaking the pool record in the 100-yard breaststroke. Then the freshman's bliss turned bittersweet when she realized that Navy's Mallory Dietrich had also beaten the record and taken first place. "Obviously I wanted to get the pool record," Klick said.

Before the winter break layoff, Penn found itself at the lowest point of Glen Miller's tenure. In a December posting on The Buzz, the Daily Pennsylvanian's sports blog, I questioned the Quakers' passion, direction and leadership, fearing that the program might be in serious jeopardy.

No eight-hour bus rides, no boxed dinners, no hotel rooms. After a season of away meets, the Quakers will finally swim in Sheerr Pool. Tomorrow at noon, Penn will host its only home meet of the season, welcoming Rider and Navy. "It's awesome to have spectators because they'll definitely keep the mental focus, and I'm excited to race," freshman freestyler Cameron Hood said.

In a crucial Ivy faceoff two months ago, Tara Chawla and Kristen Lange took the court for the women's squash team against Yale needing to win both matches. They did just that, giving the Quakers a 5-4 comeback win over the Bulldogs in New Haven, Conn. The scene was eerily similar Wednesday night in Hartford, Conn.