Andrew Scurria

Penn is the best four years of your life, I was told. And boy, were they ever. But at a time like this, who can help but think about regrets? I am now staring post-graduation life in the face, and I have to wonder if the years I spent here were enough to make me the kind of man I want to be.

The Penn relays are four days of track and field mayhem, and the main draws are undoubtedly the sprinting events at the high school, college and professional levels. But on Thursday and Friday especially, the casual Relays spectator can catch a host of lesser-known events, especially three field competitions.

In 2006, Robert Irvin had one of the best seasons for a Penn sophomore quarterback in the past half-century. Then he lost much of the next year to injury and would never again claim the top of the depth chart. But the coaching staff had never found a consistent replacement for him until late last season, when they were forced to turn to unknown sophomore Keiffer Garton, having literally run out of options.

Villanova won the game but lost its luster. The Wildcats looked nothing like a No. 3 seed until the final ten minutes of its 80-67 first-round win over American at the Wachovia Center. They'll move on to face No. 6 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament's second round tomorrow, but uncertainty is now surrounding them like a cloud.

ATLANTIC CITY, Sat., Mar. 14 - It wasn't until the game clock signalled one minute to go Saturday night that Temple's arduous road to the postseason finally got easy. The Owls swept three games in three days last week to win a second straight Atlantic-10 tournament and the accompanying ticket to the Big Dance.

In a season like this one, it was hardly surprising that the perfect ending was not to be. Penn closed out a forgettable rebuilding season with a 59-56 loss to Princeton at the Palestra Tuesday. There was little to do afterward but mull over the wreckage.

Yes, Temple squandered its chance to become an at-large NCAA Tournament selection when it lost to La Salle and Dayton last week. Its only realistic hope to make the Big Dance is to win the Atlantic 10 tournament in Atlantic City next week. But by beating Saint Joseph's, 68-59, at home last night, the Owls (18-11, 10-5 Atlantic 10) made that task a shade easier.

It's time to talk title scenarios. March Madness creeps closer every day and as the only Division I league without a conference tournament, the Ivy League will decide its NCAA Tournament representative in the next few days - as early as Friday but perhaps later if the stars align.

About the only good reason to attend the men's basketball weekend games was to watch its seniors play for the last time. They still have a road trip through New York next weekend, and they'll still play at the Palestra once more against Princeton over spring break.

The Quakers are all but out of the title race. Tonight's opponent is a long shot, too, meaning there is no spoiler role to play. It seems that the stakes of Penn's matchup with Yale are mostly restricted to the intangibles of pride and reputation. But that's no small potatoes for a program that's gotten used to topping the conference year after year, coach Glen Miller said.