After a traumatic first two seasons in Old Nassau, Princeton basketball coach Joe Scottfinally seemed to get his program moving in the right direction. By the end of last year, his Tigers were 10-4 in the Ivy League after a horrific start. Now, as basketball teams around the nation begin practicing, it looks like the personnel woes that have beset the Tigers could continue.

Junior Jason Pinsky is looking to ace his midterm at Penn this week. This midterm will take place from today through Tuesday at Penn's Levy Pavilion, where he will look to lead the men's tennis team to a strong showing at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Northeast Men's Regional Championship.

It appears that for Penn field hockey team, their recent scoring drought has turned into a deluge. After handing the University of Maryland Baltimore County a 3-0 loss yesterday afternoon, the Quakers (7-7, 2-2 Ivy) have scored 14 goals in their five games since the mid-season mark.

When the Penn men's soccer team hosted American last year, Eagles head coach Todd West rested some of his key players for a crucial conference tilt three days afterward. Yesterday, Penn coach Rudy Fuller saw for himself the potential benefits of that decision.

One team's captain and starting quarterback were suspended for various misconducts over the summer. During the season, a wide receiver was kicked off the team for apparently making fun of the school on team skit night. Another team has had its starting QB ruled academically ineligible, while yet another school's starting guard (of the basketball variety) was kicked out of school for academic reasons.

A tale of two teams will be on display tonight at UMBC Stadium. Storming through an impressive three-game win streak, the Penn field hockey team rolls into a non-conference bout with the slumping University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The formerly goal-starved Quakers (6-7, 2-2 Ivy) have been lighting up the scoreboard recently, scoring eight times in their past three contests.

Columbia boasts one of the better kickers of the Ivy League in Jon Rocholl. The sophomore, who doubles as the team's punter, had hit seven of eight attempts going into Saturday's game. This time, though, the Penn special teams unit was instrumental in preventing him from improving on that tally.

For the second time this year, the rain has forced the cancellation of a soccer game at Rhodes Field. A week ago, the men's soccer team saw its game against Rutgers washed out. Last night, it was the women's turn to take shelter as their match against Robert Morris was called due to rain.

Although the field may belong to the Eagles, the Quakers today will find themselves descending into a lion's den.

As the cliche goes, football games are won and lost in the trenches. Just ask Columbia coach Norries Wilson, who attributed his team's loss in part to "not [being] strong enough physically." Wilson specifically credited junior nose tackle Naheem Harris for thwarting the Lions' running game during Penn's 16-0 win on Saturday.

At Saint Joseph's University, diehard basketball fans like to say that "the Hawk will never die." For one year though, the Hawk will be forced to flap its wings outside of Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse - and quite possibly in the Palestra. The 3,200-seat arena is slated to be part of a $25 million athletic facilities project that St.

Senior running back Joe Sandberg continued his solid season Saturday with 101 yards on 21 carries. The 4.8 yards per carry that Sandberg gained in Penn's 16-0 win over Columbia actually lowered his league-leading average from 6.0 to 5.7 yards per carry. Sandberg also ranks third in rushing yards in the Ivy League, behind Yale's Mike McLeod and Harvard's Clifton Dawson, and he has five touchdowns, also good for third, behind the same duo.

Aside from debate tournaments and quiz bowl competitions, it isn't often that the Ivy League thoroughly and consistently dominates its opponents. But this year members of the Patriot League found out the hard way that the Ancient Eight can excel in athletics also, as they lost the season football series 14-4.

Columbia football coach Norries Wilson apologized yesterday for comments he made Saturday after his team lost 16-0 to Penn at Franklin Field. In a statement released by the Columbia athletic department, Wilson said, "I apologize for comments I made in the post-game press conference.

On Friday, former Penn basketball coach and current Temple head man Fran Dunphy celebrated the official kickoff of the season with a "Midnight Madness" celebration. His replacement, new Penn coach Glen Miller, began the new era of Quakers' basketball in a more subdued way - with a practice that was closed to the public and the media.

The scene was familiar. Fran Dunphy's basketball team had just finished a short scrimmage, and Dunphy, along with his players, was pounding out a set of push-ups like a second-stringer trying to win a starting job rather than the 57-year old head coach that he is.

These are not your older brother's Quakers. If your older brother was around in 2002 and 2003, he saw the Penn football team play 20 games and score more than 30 points in 16 of them. He also saw Penn outscore opponents 709-286 for an average margin of 21 points per game.