Late autumn is always a deliciously confusing time for football diehards.

We've spent weeks committing rushing totals, passing efficiency statistics and defensive formations to memory, and now we can turn to the true joy of crunchtime: playoff contingencies.

We know them well; we've heard Chris Berman enumerate countless times why the Jets, despite their perpetually abysmal record, are still "mathematically in the hunt." We begin to care, outside the office pool, who wins that Falcons-Saints tilt at the Superdome. And we can recite with the precision of an actuary precisely what it will take for any team to clinch a wild card berth.

But I outpace myself; this is, after all, the Ivy League, where centuries of tradition prohibit adding one critical game to the schedule to allow for some of those precious playoff confusions. We have to content ourselves with the slightly less complicated, if no less prestigious, race for the League crown and bragging rights in the Ancient Eight.

And for the first time in 10 long seasons, Harvard has a crack at those quirky conditionals. More than a crack, truth be told--one more win and the Crimson simplifies the picture considerably, wrapping up at least a tie for its first championship since 1987.

Harvard's 27-10 comeback win over Brown last Saturday in Providence, R.I., coupled with its 24-0 trouncing of defending champs Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., the week prior set the stage for this week's effective Ivy League championship game at Harvard Stadium.

Harvard 27, Brown 10

In its second straight major test, the Crimson (7-1, 5-0 Ivy) responded with 27 unanswered points to drop the Bears (5-3, 2-3) out of the title chase. Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week Chris Menick continued his dominance of the league's defensive lines, carrying 32 times for 201 yards and three touchdowns as Rich Linden completed 15-of-31 for 187 yards.

And while Brown's playmaker receiver Sean Morey set a school record for receptions with a nine-catch, 129-yard day, it was Menick, Linden and tailback Damon Jones's 328 yards rushing that outgunned Morey and Bears quarterback James Perry's 224 yards passing, as the Crimson controlled the ball for almost 37 minutes.

Penn 20, Princeton 17

Defensive Player of the Week Mitch Marrow paced the Quaker defense with six tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble, then coolly blocked a fourth-quarter go-ahead field goal to help seal the deal.

But the injury bug bit Penn (5-3, 4-1) hard on Saturday, as running back Jason McGee exited in the first quarter in favor of Jim Finn, who carried 33 times for 146 yards against the Tigers (4-4, 1-4), one of the more successful defensive packages against the Harvard running game.

Duke transfer and starting quarterback Matt Rader, too, in a scene straight out of a Snickers commercial, after scoring a fourth-quarter touchdown forgot the team's plays and the fact that he had scored once on the sideline, and was pulled with a mild concussion. Rader was later cleared to start Saturday in Cambridge.

Dartmouth 23, Columbia 21

Down 14-7 after back-to-back interception returns for touchdowns by the Lions' Chris Tillotson and Hashim Dalton, the Big Green (6-2, 4-1) rallied behind quarterback Pete Sellers's two touchdown passes to tight end Brian Corso to upend Columbia (3-5, 2-3). Sellers sealed the victory with a crucial keeper on a fourth-and-one inside the two-minute warning to maintain possession and the Dartmouth win.