On a few occasions this week, I’ve caught myself sitting in my room overcome with a very unfamiliar feeling: boredom. It’s the one strange week of the semester where everything has seemed to grind to a halt, and though I know the next stress cycle is just around the corner, I can’t help but be entranced by this magical feeling of having nothing of substance to do.

November at Harvard is a month of being in between. We’re stuck between fall and winter, between Halloween and the Game, between midterms and finals. And in Ancient Eight football, things are no different.

We’re now stuck between the fresh slate of a new season and being able to crown a champion. Up and down the Ivy schedule, games will oscillate between the meaningful and the relatively meaningless. While half the teams in the conference are battling to stay relevant in the race for the league title, the other four are just trying to save some face.

This week, we’ve got your high-stakes game (Yale/Brown), your de-facto-exhibition game (Dartmouth/Cornell) and a few in between. Let’s take a look around the Ivies.

YALE (5-2, 3-1 Ivy) at BROWN (4-3, 3-1)

This one’s the game to watch this weekend, because one of these teams will be effectively eliminated for the hunt for the Ivy crown with a loss. Though both squads are tied for second in the conference, both are on a little bit of a downswing—Brown got pummeled by Penn last weekend, and Yale barely held on to a big first-half lead to escape Columbia, 31-28.

The Bulldogs boast the best pass offense in the league, led by Patrick Witt’s 275 yards per game, while the Bears counter with the Ancient Eight’s best pass defense.

Brown backup quarterback Joe Springer has had plenty of time to settle into the offense at this point, but I’m not sure he can overpower the combination of Witt and running back Alex Thomas. Much as it pains me to say it, I think Yale stays in the hunt.

PREDICTION: Yale 21, Brown 17.

DARTMOUTH (4-3, 1-3) at CORNELL (2-5, 1-3)

Don’t let the identical Ivy records fool you: Dartmouth and Cornell are far from equals.

The Big Green took Penn to overtime, lost to Yale by just a field goal, and nearly made things interesting late in the game against the Crimson on Saturday.

The Big Red? Well, it beat Princeton, but that shouldn’t even count.

Losing to Harvard last week certainly puts a bit of a damper on Dartmouth’s momentum, but the Big Green just has too much talent to lose to a terrible team like Cornell. Nick Schwieger and Connor Kempe should easily lead the Big Green to another win.

PREDICTION: Dartmouth 22, Cornell 9.