Harvard will meet Jerry Berndt's Penn squad--the Ivy Team of the '80s--at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Stadium in the most important game of the season for both squads.

The Quakers--who need only win one of their final two games to snag a share of their fourth straight Ivy title--will tote a 6-1-1 overall mark and 5-0 Ivy record into the showdown at the summit, which will be televised on Channel 44 as the Ivy Game of the Week.

A Penn victory would give them sole possession of the crown for the second straight year. It would mark the first time this decade that a school has won outright back-to-back titles. Yale--the Team of the '70s--was the last to do it, in both 1979 and 1980.

Harvard (6-2 overall, 4-1 Ivy) must win Saturday, and then at least match Penn's performance against Dartmouth on the final weekend to at least share the title.

The Crimson can win the crown outright only if it wins Saturday, wins The Game the following weekend, and Penn ties or loses at home to Dartmouth.

To do that, though, Harvard this weekend will have to upset a Penn team that hasn't lost a Division 1-AA game in 17 outings and hasn't lost an Ivy game in 13 outings.

Interestingly, the last time Penn lost either a Division 1-AA or Ivy game was exactly two years ago this Saturday. The opponent was Harvard and the site was the Stadium.

That was also the last time Penn--17-1-1 in the Ivy League in the last three years--failed to score a point.

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The Crimson has a 2-2 record against Jerry Berndt-coached Penn teams. Harvard is the only Ivy school that does not have a losing record against the Quakers since Berndt took over.

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Five reasons why Harvard will beat Penn:

*The Crimson is 3-0 this season in games that start at 1 p.m.

*The Crimson is 2-0 this season in games that have been televised.

*The Crimson hasn't lost at home against the Quakers since 1972.