The Ivy League’s highest-scoring offense (Columbia) against its stingiest defense (Penn). Two teams that have won the games they’re supposed to win and stayed close in the games they’re supposed to lose. A chance for one of these programs to put itself ahead of the pack in the Ivy League title race.
It’s really impossible to tell who’s going to win this one, but I’ve been high on Columbia the whole season, and the Lions are the home team anyway.
Prediction: Columbia 17, Penn 14
LAFAYETTE (4-1) AT HARVARD (3-1, 2-0 IVY)
Just to reiterate how tight the Columbia-Penn game is going to be, both teams lost to a very good Lafayette squad by three points this season.
As for the Leopards, like Harvard, they’re a borderline Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division 1-AA) Top-25 team, having garnered two votes in the polls this week.
This should be a very close matchup, and Crimson coach Tim Murphy is predicting that weather and the quality of the teams involved will turn this into a low-scoring game. I’m not going to argue.
Prediction: Harvard 13, Lafayette 10
Last Week: 4-2
Record to Date: 16-10
—Staff writer Loren Amor can be reached at lamor@fas.harvard.edu.