I had a dream. It happened one night when I was asleep. It was late Friday night, and the phone rang. It was John Yovicsin, and he'd been having trouble sleeping. "Ben," he said, "I've been turning tomorrow's game over in my mind, and frankly, I'm worried. I wonder if you could come over." So I went. Yovicsin wanted me to do some prediction analysis, and I finally worked it out that he'd win by 12 points. He thanked me, and then I stayed to make sure he'd fall asleep. Well, he did.

And then suddenly it was Saturday afternoon, late in the fourth quarter, and Harvard led by 12 points. Yovicsin looked up to the press box with a victory smile and pulled out a box of Cap'n Crunch and began eating it right there on the sidelines as the crowd roared its approval. Then I woke up. My teddy bear had fallen out of bed.

Since I've got some space left, I'll give you the scores of this afternoon's games. There are six of interest to football fans, including Ivy openers for four teams.

CORNELL-LEHIGH: We may as well start with a big one, and this is certainly a very big one for all Lehigh alumni living in Ithaca. Reliable sources told me that the Engineers dropped a 24-0 game to Penn last week, and that certainly keeps them in the running for dubious achievement of the fall. Cornell, on the other hand, looks decent. Lehigh, hoping to beat the Big Red for the first time since 1893, will have to wait awhile, 31-7.

DARTMOUTH-HOLY CROSS: Football's the name; brutality's the game, especially when these two teams bash heads. I'm taking even odds on the survival of at least one team, and it's a 4-1 shot that both will survive. Holy Cross may come out on top in the pre-game prayers, but Dartmouth will win the game, 35-10.

PENN-BROWN: Cap'n Crunch and I spent twice as long flipping coins on this one. Running Bear and Little White Dove both jumped in the river, and both drowned when the raging river pulled them down. But Running Bear stayed up a bit longer, and similarly, I think Brown will win this game today before both teams start on the merry path to the Ivy League cellar, 17-10.

COLGATE-YALE: The Elis enter the second year of the post-Dowling era with a fine bunch of football players and a team at least as good as Harvard's Yale has strength at all positions, and Colgate looks nice in the winter. Chalk it up for the Elis, 28-10.

COLUMBIA-PRINCETON: Both these teams are in the Ivy League. That fact makes this an Ivy opener; hence, an important game. Princeton was lucky last week, but so was Columbia. It may turn into a battle of two great quarterbacks, with Plummer of Princeton coming out on top, 35-21.

HARVARD-RUTGERS: John Yovicsin said he'll be there, and everyone's hoping Rutgers brings good cheerleaders. The big question on everyone's mind is Rod Foster. Can he do it again? But that's like asking who put the bomp. No one knows. And will the offensive switches help? Will our timing be good? Will we win? Sure, why not? 24-14.