The Ivy League Football champion was determined in fine style this Saturday in Providence, as the Big Green of Dartmouth, ranked #19 in the nation, kicked a field goal with a minute and a half remaining to down the second place Brown Bears 27-24. The win added to an impressive laundry list of accomplishments for the Boys from Hanover: at 6-0 in the Ivies, Dartmouth clinched their fourth Ancient Eight title of the 90s; at 9-0 the Big Green are one of only three undefeated teams in division I-AA, and the win extended their unbeaten streak to sixteen games.
In other action, Cornell's star senior running back Chad Levitt suffered a season-ending dislocation fracture of his elbow in the Big Red's 24-10 loss at Columbia. Levitt had been chosen to play in the East-West shrine game, and was a mere 58 yards from the Ivy League career rushing record set by another Cornell legend, Ed Marinaro, when the injury ended his Ivy career. The Princeton Tigers ruined Yale Coach Carm Cozza's final home game by coming from behind to beat the Elis 17-13, while Pennsylvania won their third straight after an 0-3 start, 17-12 over Harvard.
Turning to the standings, Dartmouth are secure at 6-0 with one week to go. Brown and Columbia follow at 4-2, with Penn and Cornell next at 3-3. The Big Three continue to cling to the bottom, with Princeton climbing to 2-4 while Harvard and Yale battle for the cellar at 1-5.
Dartmouth closes the season at Princeton, where they will attempt to complete their first 10-0 slate ever. Brown visits Columbia in the battle for second place, while the two big rivalries also pit teams tied in the standings: Cornell hosts Penn, with the winner salvaging a winning record, and Yale travels the Harvard, with the loser of "The Game" to be relegated to last place.
I won't be here next Monday to deliver the final Ivy report of the season, but those of you in the Santa Barbara area can catch it Wednesday night on KCSB's the Mr. Squishy Show. For the rest of you, the report can be found on Joe Schlobotnik's Sports Machine, on the World Wide Web at http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jtw16960/index.html