Two Harvard-Radcliffe teams will compete for the Boston and national pancake eating championships this afternoon, and experts rate the Crimson a solid 23-3 favorite to stagger off with the title.

The epic clash will take place at 3 p.m. at the International House of Pancakes in Brighton, as Harvard-Radcliffe battles Boston University; the scores will be pitted against those complied by 41 other cavern-mouthed teams throughout the country.

Representing the Crimson will be the teams of Nancy Moran '66 and R. Andrew Beyer '65; and Heather J. Dubrow '65 and James R. Barker '65.

Formidable opposition should come from B.U., whose male entrant is a football player with the ominous name of John Henry. But, a member of the Crimson squad predicted, "He'll die with a fork in his hand."

The House of Pancakes has agreed to supply all contestants with free bicarbonate of soda.