M.I.T. yesterday officially joined the handful of colleges defying the National Collegiate Athletic Association's "policy" against participating in track meets sponsored by the rival Amateur Athletic Union.

The college also became the first to announce that it will allow the AAU to use its facilities for a meet--the indoor New England AAU championships Feb. 3.

M.I.T. is one of nine colleges which currently have teams entered in the AAU-sanctioned Knights of Columbus games scheduled for the Boston Garden Saturday. How many of the nine will stay in if the NCAA changes its "policy" to an "order" this week is uncertain.

If the NCAA does make the change, as is expected, athletes from schools that participate in AAU meets would be barred from NCAA championships not just in track but in every sport.

The eight Ivy schools have already announced that they intend to participate in indoor meets this winter, whatever the consequences. An Athletics Department spokesman said yesterday that he was "pretty certain Harvard won't back down," no matter what the NCAA decides at its convention this week.

Three other Ivy schools, Yale, Columbia and Penn, have posted entries for the K of C meet. Entries have also been received from Brandeis, Bowdoin, Manhattan, and N.Y.U.

A number of other Eastern track powers have expressed opposition to the NCAA's policy, but so far the revolt has been almost completely confined to the East coast.

In the West, irritation at the AAU's administration of track meets has combined with opposition to the Eastern control of the AAU to produce a virtually solid front in favor of the NCAA's stand. No college athletes violated the ban by appearing in the season's first indoor meet in San Francisco Saturday.