It wasn't always pretty, and it wasn't what Drexel did. But it was a win in the home opener and on coach Glen Miller's debut on the Palestra's home bench. Paced by 26 points from Mark Zoller, Penn struggled in the first half before opening up a double-digit lead and easing past Florida Gulf Coast, 97-74.

ITHACA, N.Y. The record will show that Penn finished this football season at 5-5 and 3-4 in the Ivy League, identical to last year's record. It will also show that the Quakers lost its five games by a total of 15 points, with a 27-20 loss to Villanova being the worst defeat.

Many things were different for Stephen Liuzza when he came to Ithaca, N.Y., from his home in Louisiana, but change is something the freshman has had to get used to. Liuzza started his playing days on the Slidell High School football team in southeast Louisiana, but he was forced to relocate as Hurricane Katrina roared toward the coast.

They're among the most bitter of rivals in college football, and their meeting this year takes on extra meaning because of their position atop the standings. Still, the loser of tomorrow's game, depending on who it is, still has a shot at a championship, assuming that a pesky team from New Jersey doesn't get in the way.

There is no title up for grabs and no rushing record at stake. There is no spoiler role to play. So by most accounts, tomorrow's matchup between Penn (5-4, 3-3 Ivy) and Cornell (4-5, 2-4), will lack the excitement and the relevance of Harvard-Yale or Princeton-Dartmouth.

The Quakers wiped away Rider last season in one of only two non-conference victories

The men and women's squash teams have high expectations for the upcoming season; their quests to satisfy them begin tomorrow when they take on Cornell at Ringe Courts. The No. 4 women and No. 6 men open their seasons against the Big Red, whose men and women's teams are both ranked ninth in the preseason polls.

By Andrew Sweet The Daily Pennsylvanian The reigning Keystone Classic Champs are poised for their first test at home. On Saturday, the Penn wrestling team hosts nine squads which are looking to knock off the defending champs at the Palestra. American, Appalachian State, Boston University, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Mercyhurst, Rider and VMI come to town in hopes of success against each other and the No.

To use a punting analogy, Daniel Gold got a bad snap. Ready to start his third semester abroad from the University of Melbourne...

With a promotion to the Division I Atlantic Sun conference on the horizon, the Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball team is making every effort to prepare for more difficult competition. And luckily for them, the Eagles will be able to benefit from some Division I experience of their own.

And then there were two. The Lehigh women's basketball team was in a good position at the beginning of preseason, returning four from its starting lineup. But after two of those players went down with anterior cruciate ligament injuries, there was a gap to fill in the starting five.

The Quakers had one of the worst seasons in the history of Penn women's basketball last season, winning only five games. What little success they had, however, can largely be attributed to one player: Joey Rhoads. She sat on the bench for only 53 minutes of the 27-game season.

Let there be no doubt about which of Penn's next two opponents is stronger. Yesterday Drexel whaled on Florida Gulf Coast, 73-37, in both teams' season opener.

The women's basketball team compiled a dismal 5-22 overall record last season, yet somehow eluded last place in the Ivy League with a 3-11 mark, beating out both Yale and Columbia. But coach Pat Knapp has already put on the blinders. "Our mentality is that we have moved forward.

Hoping for revenge against the Tigers for a 3-1 defeat at the Palestra earlier in the season, the Penn volleyball team looked to get one back on Princeton's home court last night. In an electrifying and competitive match, the Quakers lost to the Tigers in three highly contested games (28-30, 25-30, 29-31).

Penn really wasted an opportunity for a quality win when it could not put away Texas-El Paso in its season opener. Those are victories that really impress the NCAA Tournament committee come Selection Sunday and help a team get a better seed. And over the course of the season, how many of these chances does Penn really have? The answer is realistically two, or at the absolute most, four.

n Women's Water Polo. The squad hosted a five-team tournament at Sheerr Pool last Saturday and Sunday. They dominated all of their opponents, finishing the weekend with a perfect 4-0 record. After easily defeating Penn State and West Chester, Penn had tougher match-ups against Washington and Jefferson - a varsity squad - and the Greenwich Club team.