I do think, however, that geography is important to consider here. New Haven is a town of about 130,000 people located in Connecticut. It’s sort of this gothic concrete thing located in between the much more aesthetically pleasing temperate deciduous forests that dot the Northeast. In some circles, it’s also known as a place you should avoid when traveling between New York and Boston.

Be it what it may—and unbeknownst to many—New Haven is also where Yale is located. From an objective standpoint it would seem a bit weird to attribute any kind of homecourt advantage to a place that couldn’t come up with a better nickname than “The Elm City.” Given the atypical student body, however, playing in New Haven might just be what the Bulldogs need to beat Brown by more than a point.

Pick: Yale

HARVARD AT COLUMBIA

Undisclosed sources say that Columbia’s whole team from last season is gone.

I’ve looked into it and it appears that they still have a roster. So barring some unforeseen event, there will be a game on Saturday.

Truth be told, the Lions did lose some key players in Grant Mullins and Maodo Lo. Despite their departure, Columbia has managed to eke out some wins, but this is clearly not the Lions squad that won 25 games a year ago. In many ways, this matchup is probably the most indicative of how much the league has changed in the past year—with Harvard on the rise, this will be a tough one for a program that handed the Crimson two losses a season ago.

Pick: Harvard

DARTMOUTH AT CORNELL

Dartmouth’s motto is “Vox clamantis in deserto.” This translates into “a voice crying out in the wilderness.”

Pick: Cornell

—Staff writer Troy Boccelli can be reached at troy.boccelli@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Stephen J. Gleason can be reached at stephen.gleason@thecrimson.com.