The best in the Northeast, the best in the Southeast, the best in the Southwest will all be there.

Not the best of the west, but certainly the best of the rest.

The Harvard Invitational Women's Tennis Tournament will be played today, tommorow and Sunday at the Beren Tennis Center.

The Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Clemson, Rollins, Syracuse, and William & Mary women's tennis teams--all powerhouses--will participate.

"The best college event in the Boston area of the year," Harvard Coach Don Usher says.

The tournament will have a new format this year. Individual players will be competing for singles and doubles honors, but there will not be a team title.

The change stems from a new NCAA rule limiting the number of appearances players may make in the course of the year.

"Players are allowed to play in only thirty--five contests each year, and each day of a team tournament is considered a contest," says Coach Don Usher. "If it is played for individual flights, it will only be considered one contest."

Three of the eight teams who will vie for the titles in the individual flights at Harvard were ranked in the nation's top 20 for last year.

Texas--ranked ninth--will bring an 18-match winning streak with it to Cambridge. And that isn't all U.T. will bring. The Lady Longhorns will have Beverly Bowes, Anne Grousbeck, and Michelle Carrier in tow.

Bowes, a two time all-American, has plenty of skill and experience as well as determination. She was ranked first in the country for most of the '84-'85 season.

The doubles duo of Grousbeck and Carrier has also dominated tennis in the Southwest.

Clemson, too, is a team to be feared.

Tigers Tara Hoffer and Inglese Drichuis are ranked by the World Tennis Association, and have lived up to their reputations so far this year.

Beating Nicole Stafford of Clemson will be no easy feat for Harvard's undefeated Kristin Bland in the B flight. Stafford is a returning all--American and is seeded second in the flight.