Petering Out

After lying fallow while the rest of the college football world rages forward, the Ivy League teams move into action this weekend. And while most of the Ivy openers are traditionally considered tune-ups for the regular season, this year, things could be different. As many as four of the eight teams in the Ivies could come up on the short end this weekend.

The schedule for this weekend will provide seven "regional title games." In New Haven, Yale meets UConn for the Connecticut title. In Providence, Brown takes on URI for the Rhode Island title. In Princeton, Rutgers skirmishes the Tigers for the championship of New Jersey. In Easton, Penn squares off with Lafayette for the Pennsylvania title. In Hamilton, Cornell meets Colgate for the Upstate New York championship. In Durham, Dartmouth takes on UNH for the championship of New Hampshire. And of course, here in Cambridge, Harvard meets UMass for what some may construe as the Massachusetts title. In the only non-regional contest, Columbia meets Bucknell in a New York-Pennsylvania tilt.

YALE-UCONN--Yale has won 22 out of 24 games in this series. There is no reason to expect that to change today. Tom Doyle still can't throw a football, but against UConn he won't have to. The Wishbone attack and a solid D will be too much for the Huskies. Yale 34, UConn 10.

BROWN-URI--Brown is going to win back a lot of lost pride this year. The Bruins have a new coach and have developed some talent to go with his fresh approach. Hubie Morgan is a runner to watch. The Bruins are on the upswing. Brown 28, URI 21.

PRINCETON-RUTGERS--Ex-Tiger coach Jake McCandless may have been charged with padding the Princeton admissions roles with football prospects, but you wouldn't know it from the rag-tag squad the Tigers will put on the field. Tiger defense will keep the score down, though, which is some consolation. Rutgers 14, Princeton 12.

PENN-LAFAYETTE--With a little luck the Quakers could make a serious bid this year. Adolph Bellizeare, Don Clune and company are too much for Lafayette. A breeze for Penn, 31-10.

CORNELL-COLGATE--Upstate New York could be a bloodbath this weekend. Cornell has powerful runners, Colgate has a superlative passer in Tom Parr who threw for 311 yards the first time out this year. A close one. Cornell 22, Colgate 21.

DARTMOUTH-UNH--The Big Green may have a lonely fall up in Hanover. The unhappiness begins today, when Jake Crouthamel realizes just how much he has lost. UNH 20, Dartmouth 14.

COLUMBIA-BUCKNELL--The Lions couldn't claw their way out of a box of kitty litter. Bucknell 24, Columbia 7.

HARVARD-UMASS--This is year three for Resticball. Still no results. Stoeckel will excel but Harvard hasn't enough to deter Pennington and friends. UMass 14, Harvard 10.

CRIMSON-UMASS--The easiest pick of all. Cambridge's only breakfast-table daily is like the ocean--it can't be stopped. Crimson 23, Collegian 2.