Updated after the La Salle-South Carolina game. See below.

WASHINGTON - Let me start by saying that I missed both the Villanova and Penn State games this afternoon. I had the nerve to step away from sports for a few hours. Apologies for that.

But I followed the Wildcats' 69-68 win on Twitter, and most of the talk from people here in D.C. was about how George Mason blew it. It seems to me that Isaiah Armwood deserves quite a bit of credit for that three-pointer, but the Patriots missed four of eight free throws in the final 1:16. They were also playing zone when Armwood scored.

Looking at the box score, it's clear that the Wildcats did not have it together on offense today the way they did against Penn. Scottie Reynolds was 6-14 from the field, Corey Fisher was 1-12 and Maalik Wayns was 3-10.

As a team, 'Nova only made seven of 23 field goal attempts in the first half, and would have trailed by more than nine points at halftime had Corey Fisher not made 10 of 12 free throws.

The second half wasn't much better, but George Mason was even worse. The Patriots were 7-19 from the field and 1-6 from beyond the arc after halftime, and then came those late missed free throws.

Reynolds finished with 18 and Fisher with 16, and Antonio Pena tallied 10 points and 12 rebounds. Ryan Pearson led George Mason with 14 points and 8 boards.

But you know what? Let's give Armwood the Line of the Game. His game-winning three was his first basket as a college player, and he even added a blocked shot in four minutes on the floor.

I also watched part of the La Salle-South Carolina game, which was part of the same Charleston tournament as Penn State vs. UNC-Wilmington. Specifically, I watched the part of the second half where the Gamecocks pushed their lead from four points to 20 en route to a 78-68 win.

If you didn't see it, we have a nice play-by-play summary right here on Philly.com.

The Explorers led by as many as seven points with 3:16 left in the first half, but only got one Rodney Green layup between that point and halftime.

The score was 40-36 South Carolina at halftime, and La Salle stayed stuck on 36 points until a Rodney Green layup with 17:31 left in the half. Yves Mekono-Mbala's jumper made it 46-40 to the Gamecocks with 16:06 left. But by the time the Explorers got to 51 with 8:59 remaning, South Carolina had 64. That was pretty well it.

For the game, La Salle shot 48.1 percent from the field and South Carolina shot 50.8 percent. So the Explorers' defense still appears to not be there yet.

Consider the splits by half as well. La Salle shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first half and 44.4 percent in the second. But consider this too: the Explorers attempted 27 shots in each half, making 14 in the first and 12 in the second. Not much of a difference.

South Carolina also made 14 field goals in the first half, on 31 attempts (45.2%). The Gamecocks were 17-30 in the seccond half, though (56.7%), and there's the margin.

Rodney Green scored 23 points for the Explorers and Jerrell Williams added 11, but Aaric Murray scored only four points and picked up four fouls. But he did have seven rebounds and four blocks.

Line of the game goes to South Carolina's Dominique Archie, who was his team's leading scorer and one of four Gamecocks in double figures:

We turn now to football and another weekend full of dud games. But there are a few good rivalries to consider, so we have a decent Spectacle of the Week poll. You already saw it, so go ahead and vote.

The weekly Top 10 chart is below. I find it interesting that Jeff Sagarin has TCU at No. 3 and Oregon above Boise State.

Do you think the Broncos will make it into the BCS?

Poll: What's the Spectacle of the Week? (31 votes)

WASHINGTON - I have definitely noticed an increase in traffic on the blog on days when I've written about Temple football. Were I not going to be at Franklin Field this Saturday to cover Cornell-Penn for the Inquirer, I would be at the Linc for the Owls' last home game of the season against Kent State.

Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw told me yesterday that he expects around 20,000 fans to be in attendance. I'll be interested to see what the final number is, because it's a pretty big deal for Bradshaw's program.

But since I won't be there, I'll make it up to you with two more interviews with AP football poll voters: Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News and Barker Davis of the Washington Times.

Wolf has the Owls ranked 20th in his latest ballot. He told me by email that he thinks "they deserve respect after winning eight straight games and for the fact they have come so far as a program. They also beat Navy, a team that almost beat Ohio State, and Notre Dame."

While Wolf said that "the MAC receives little or no coverage in Southern California," he added that he has no problem "ranking a MAC team with an 8-2 record."

Davis does not have the Owls on his ballot, but as he was at yesterday's Temple-Georgetown game (he also covers the Hoyas), I was able to get his view.

He showed me the raw form of the ballot he sent in, which included a "Next 5" with his Top 15. The Owls were fourth in that "Next 5."

Davis had plenty of praise for the Owls' success this season, noting that "they had never even been on my radar before." But his main reason for not ranking them is the loss to Villanova.

"The 'Nova loss is a bad one," he said, because the Wildcats are in I-AA. "A loss to 'Nova is equivalent to two [I-A] losses."

Davis is certainly aware of the Wildcats' success this season. But he noted that he would have also held Michigan accountable for their famous loss to Appalachian State a few years back.

Like Wolf, Davis also gave Temple full credit for the win over Navy, even though the Midshipmen's starting quarterback, Ricky Dobbs, wasn't playing. But beyond that, Davis asked, "who are Temple's other quality wins?"

It is worth noting that Temple has not played Central Michigan, the only team in the MAC ranked higher in Sagarin than the Owls. But if Temple beats Kent State, the two teams will meet in the MAC title game.

That brings us us to this week's Crunchy Numbers.

Since I missed today's coaches luncheon, all the divisions together in this roundup. Most of the Division II and Division III seasons are over at this point anyway, with the notable exception of Delaware Valley.

Division I

21. Penn State (19)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 91/91 Indiana, 31-20
This week: 11/21 at No. 45 Michigan State, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
Sagarin predicts: Penn State by 3 (81.01 to 74.70 and 3.06)

34. Rutgers (53)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 22/38 South Florida, 31-0
This week: 11/21 at No. 95 Syracuse, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN360.com)
Sagarin predicts: Rutgers by 11 (78.06 to 64.35 and 3)

43. Villanova (46)
Last week: Road win vs. No. 195/193 Towson, 49-7
This week: 11/21 vs. No. 116 Delaware, 3:30 p.m. (Comcast Network)
Sagarin predicts: Villanova by 19 (76.60 and 3.06 to 60.41)

61. Temple (65)
Last week: Road win vs. No. 134/138 Akron, 56-17
This week: 12/21 vs. No. 108 Kent State, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Temple by 13 (71.94 and 3.06 to 61.83)

116. Delaware (116)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 41/40 Navy, 35-18
This week: 11/21 at No. 43 Villanova, 3:30 p.m. (Comcast Network)
Sagarin predicts: Villanova by 19 (76.60 and 3.06 to 60.41)

122. Penn (137)
Last week: Road win vs. No. 157/150 Harvard, 17-7
This week: 11/21 vs. No. 220 Cornell, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Penn by 27 (59.19 and 3 to 35.53)

131. Lafayette (141)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 150/135 Holy Cross, 28-26
This week: 11/21 at No. 198 Lehigh, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN360.com, RCN-4 or RCN-8, WPBPH-60, WFMZ-69)
Sagarin predicts: Lafayette by 13 (56.68 to 40.63 and 3.06)

It's the 145th meeting of the Leopards and the Mountain Hawks/Engineers, which I believe is a record of some kind.

205. Delaware State (189)
Last week: Home loss vs. No. 169/174 Norfolk State, 21-16
This week: 11/21 vs. No. 238 Howard, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Delaware State by 15 (39.76 and 3 to 27.30)

198. Lehigh (214)
Last week: Road win vs. No. 199/196 Fordham, 35-28
This week: 11/21 vs. No. 131. Lafayette, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN360.com, RCN-4 or RCN-8, WBPH-60, WFMZ-69)
Sagarin predicts: Lafayette by 13 (56.68 to 40.63 and 3.06)

219. Princeton (228)
Last week: Home win vs. No. 190/188 Yale, 24-17
This week: 11/21 at No. 203 Dartmouth, 12:30 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Dartmouth by 8 (40.09 and 3 to 35.99)

230. Bucknell (237)
Last week: Road loss vs. No. 160/158 Colgate, 29-14
This week: 11/21 vs. No. 135 Holy Cross, 1:00 p.m.
Sagarin predicts: Holy Cross by 22 (56.18 to 31.46 and 3)

Divisions II and III

West Chester
Season over

Delaware Valley
Last week: Road win vs. Widener, 28-16
This week: 11/21 vs. Susquehanna, 12:00 p.m. (NCAA Division III playoffs first round)

The winner gets Albright or Alfred in the second round. Not sure where the game would be played, but that first-round game is at Alfred. Delaware Valley beat Albright to win the MAC's automatic playoff bid.

Rowan
Last week: Home win vs. The College of New Jersey, 39-0
This week: Season over

Sometimes, karma can be a good thing. Congrats to the Profs for winning without Mike Hoffman and their other injured starters.

Ursinus
Last week: Road win vs. Dickinson, 35-32
This week: Season over

Widener
Last week: Home loss vs. Delaware Valley, 28-16
This week: Season over

Lincoln
Season over

Cheyney
Season over

View gallery

Georgetown 46, Temple 45: Inquirer | Daily News | Washington Post | Mike Wise | Washington Times

WASHINGTON - If you followed my live blog, you know that I was pretty well convinced that Ramone Moore should have taken the ball to the basket in the game's final minute instead of trying to dribble off some clock.

I thought that even more after the postgame press conferences. Barker Davis of the Washington Times noted that the only guy who could have stopped Moore from getting to the basket was Chris Wright, who had four fouls.

There was no way that Wright would have been able to get in position and set his feet, so it would almost certainly have been a blocking foul had there been contact.

You can certainly make a good case for dribbling off the clock. And it's not fair to argue with the benefit of hindsight, knowing that Moore only took off four seconds or so before being fouled.

Had Moore made the free throws, it would have been a three-point lead. But he missed the front end of the one-and-one, and that was it. Georgetown went the other way and Greg Monroe hit the game-winning layup with 6.5 seconds left.

Was there enough time for the Owls to run a different play than having Luis Guzman run into a double-team? Sure. But I'd argue that Moore's play was of greater significance.

Let me make clear something that I've said a number of times on here before: I've never played (or coached) organized basketball before. And I don't want to pile on Moore, because he's a sophomore and you know the next time he goes down the floor he'll make a better-informed decision.

But I was discussing the game at a bar in the neighborhood where I grew up with a guy who did play collegiately, and he said that there are some plays where the evidence is clear.

And as you'll see in the video below, Fran Dunphy didn't exactly give the endgame sequence a ringing endorsement.

The one good thing about the way the game ended is that it distracted us from a dreadful first 25 or so minutes. There was a brief stretch midway through the second half or so when both teams were moving the ball well, and you could see the tactical clash between Fran Dunphy's motion and John Thompson's interpretation of the Princeton offense.

I particularly remember a stretch of three or four Temple passes around the arc involving Ryan Brooks, Ramon Moore and I believe Craig Williams, and a play at the other end where Vaughn was running a classic high-post pass-out play with his back to the basket. But that was about it.

For the game, Temple shot 32.1% from the field (18-56), including 13.0% from three-point range (3-23) and 15-33 from two-point range (45.5%), and 46.2% from the free throw line (6-13). They pulled down 11 offensive and 26 defensive rebounds and tallied 12 assists, 10 turnovers, no blocks, seven steals and 15 fouls.

That adds up to 59 possessions and 0.757 points per possession.

Twelve assists on 18 made baskets isn't a bad ratio, but 18 made baskets speaks for itself.

Georgetown shot 35.7% from the field (15-42) including 16.7% from three-point range (3-18) and an even 50.0% from two-point range (12.24), and 13-19 from the free throw line (68.4%). The Hoyas pulled down five offensive and 31 defensive rebounds and tallied seven assists, 16 turnovers, one block, three steals and 18 fouls.

That adds up to 60 possessions and 0.754 points per possession.

In other words, the Hoyas took fewer field goal attempts, made fewer field goal attempts, pulled down fewer rebounds and committed more turnovers.

So why did Temple lose? I heard the answer on Twitter all afternoon: free throws. Georgetown got to the line more often and missed as many attempts from there as the Owls made.

It's not really worth giving out a Line of the Game from this thing. But it's noteworthy that Lavoy Alllen had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Greg Monroe had 11 points and nine rebounds. Chris Wright led all scorers with 15 points, six of which came from the free throw line.

The complete box score is here.

Longer excerpts of the postgame press conferences are in the audio player. I had some trouble with my recorder so I missed a few bits, but just about everything is there.

One piece that did not make the cut on the audio is Luis Guzman's explanation of the final play of the game, because there was a lot of feedback while he was talking. Here's a transcript:

He told me to push the ball, to push the ball down and if I'm open, just to go to the basket. I looked to my right and there was nobody aroud so I thought I had the chance to go straight to the basket. The guy was there before I got there.

I'll put up the week's Football Crunchy Numbers post at some point tomorrow, but after that I'm going dark for a few days. The last few days have been a lot of fun, but also pretty crazy.

I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I have.

Jack the Bulldog representing.

WASHINGTON - Greetings from the Verizon Center, where we're set for a game full of interesting matchups.

In the frontcourt, Lavoy Allen will get one of his toughest tests of the season from Greg Monroe. It will be a lot of fun to watch both of these skilled big men go to work under the basket.

In the backcourt Juan Fernandez and Ryan Brooks will face off against Austin Freeman and Chris Wright. The latter pair have been in the spotlight ever since they arrived at the Hilltop, having been high school stars in the D.C. area. But they also bore the brunt of the pressure after the Hoyas missed the NCAA Tournament last season.

Then there's the bench, and a duel that probably fascinates me more than the rest of you. But it's of consequence. This is the first time since John Thompson III left Princeton five years ago that he's matching wits with Fran Dunphy.

The two coaches had some great games in their Ivy League days. Their teams aren't as evenly matched now as they were then, but Dunphy probably knows Thompson's system better than anyone else.

To be honest, I never thought these two teams would play each other with Dunphy and Thompson in charge. There's nothing personal between them, but I just figured that they were fine going their separate ways.

Here we are, though, and I've heard there's at least a return game in Philadelphia planned for next season.

It's a happy hour tipoff as part of ESPN's 24-hour college basketball marathon. Georgetown is the better team, but I certainly think the game will be competitive. Can the Owls pull off the upset?

Let's find out.

Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz, Phillies president David Montgomery, Eagles president Joe Banner and Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter came together to promote the city's effort to be part of the United States' bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. (Sarah J. Glover/Staff Photographer)

Let's start this morning on a bit of a different note. We interrupt the college basketball coverage for some soccer, and what is some pretty big news.

Yesterday afternoon, Mayor Nutter hosted a press conference at City Hall touting Philadelphia's efforts to be part of U.S. Soccer's bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

Among the speakers was Eagles president Joe Banner, and after the formal remarks I caught up to him for a quick interview. As I've written on here before, in its current configuration Lincoln Financial Field's pitch is only 68 yards wide. FIFA's standards would require at least 70 yards, if not a few more, for a World Cup match.

Banner told me that sections of seats in the corners of the lower deck "are removable to perfectly accommodate the specs that they need for the World Cup."

"The stands right now in the corners come in a little tight," Banner said. "It would actually just exercise what's part of the design, which would widen the field down in the corners just a little bit."

That's the first time I've ever heard that, and if it's true, it's quite significant. When I relayed Banner's remarks to Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz, he told me that "it's not a concern at all."

"As it's constructed, you can play an international soccer game, [but] for FIFA, they require some additional width," Sakiewicz said. "It's very, very easy in that stadium to create the width."

Sakiewicz added that the Union will play its home opener there next spring within the field's current configuration.

He also told me that he believes 15 cities will be chosen for the final package that will be submitted with the U.S. bid.

"We have a really, really good shot," Sakiewicz said. "It would be hard for them, I think, to not give it to Philly if the U.S. wins the bid."

You can see more in the video below. You can also can listen to the press conference with Sakiewicz, Banner, Nutter and Phillies president David Montgomery in the audio player.

We'll return to college basketball in a short while. I'll be at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. this afternoon to bring you live coverage of Temple's 4:00 p.m. tipoff against Georgetown. I hope you'll join me.

[ Listen with own player ]

With a correction from the orginal version, couresty of longtime Penn statistician Stu Stuss.

Well, that was pretty gruesome, wasn't it.

If you're a Villanova fan, you have to be quite pleased with Maalik Wayns' team-high 16 points and the extended floor time given to the freshman trio of Wayns, Dominic Cheek and Mouphtaou Yarou.

But if you're neutral, you were either asleep five minutes in or scrambling to find an online feed somewhere of the Miami (Ohio)-Kentucky game.

(If you did find it, you saw John Wall hit the game-winner with half a second left. Anyone want some spare hype?)

The 38-point margin was among Penn's worst in program history.

(I had originally written that it was Penn's worst regular-season defeat in program history and its worst overall since Villanova's famous 90-47 win in the 1971 NCAA Tournament, citing a story in the Daily Pennsylvanian. Stu informed me that there have been worse regular-season defeats.)

But it was not the largest margin in Big 5 history. As Joe Juliano notes in his game recap, that honor belogs to Villanova's 98-57 win over La Salle in 2005.

(Which says at least a little something about how dominant the Wildcats have been for a while now.)

Villanova shot 58.7 percent from the field for the game, making 37 of 63 attempts. The Wildcats were 11-for-21 from three-point range (52.4%), 26-for-42 from two-point range (61.9%), and 18-for-23 from the free throw line (78.3%).

They pulled down 13 offensive rebounds and 33 defensive rebounds, and tallied 19 assists, 15 turnovers, four blocks and eight steals. Eleven of those turnovers came in the second half.

It adds up to 74 possessions and a whopping 1.380 points per possession. The breakdown by half was 1.515 points per possession in the first half and 1.251 in the second.

Penn, by contrast, shot 34.5 percent from the field (20-for-58). The Quakers were 9-for-32 (28.1%) from outside the arc and 11-for-26 inside it (42.3%), and 16-for-27 from the free throw line (59.3%).

Yes, they really took 32 three-point attempts.

The Quakers pulled down 10 offensive and 16 defensive rebounds and tallied 13 assists, 14 turnovers, no blocks and 10 steals. Darren Smith led all scorers with 21 points on 6-for-15 shooting, including 4-for-9 from three-point range. Rob Belcore added 16 points.

From where I sat, there wasn't much defense played on either end. And Penn only took five fewer shots while committing one fewer turnover in 40 minutes.

But it was never going to be close, especially with Penn center Andreas Schreiber making only one of six field goal attempts and four of seven free throws. That does not bode well going forward.

Villanova, on the other hand, can take a lot from having given 10 players 13 or more minutes on the floor tonight. And there wasn't much of a difference between the starters and the bench, though the opposition certainly had something to do with that. With three games in four days coming up in Puerto Rico, having this kind of depth is going to serve the Wildcats very well.

Postgame audio is below, as is Antonio Pena's Line of the Game. Before you get there, I wrote a nice little riff before the game that I hope you like. Even if you don't want to re-live the game, at least read on a little bit.

I meant to write this before the Drexel-St. Joe's game, but I didn't have the time, so here goes.

We had a heck of a summer. The Phillies took us on another joyride, going so deep into November that we barely had a week to prepare for the college basketball season.

But I've noticed since the beginning of the month that a lot of people are looking for something else in sports to latch on to now. The Eagles' inconsistency isn't helping with that, and the Michael Vick saga burned bridges with some fans that no amount of winning will repair anytime soon.

The 76ers are mediocre at best, and the Flyers have a long way to go before their games get meaningful. So what should fans do?

Well, we're here. In truth, we know we've been here all along. But with Villanova, La Salle and Temple all primed for big seasons, it might be college basketball's turn to step up into the local spotlight.

I know that not everyone has their own affiliation. But there's nothing wrong with embracing the game itself. Every team has a student section with atmosphere, a coach in front of the microphone, a senior leader, and a talented freshman who will evolve over the season. Some, like the Wildcats, have more than just one.

Our local teams compete in four different conferences, all of which stand at different levels of the game. But they share so many things in common that we know that to follow one means we should follow them all.

And so tonight we come upon the strongest of those bonds: the Big 5. Penn and Villanova christen the 55th season of City Series basketball tonight at the Pavilion. It is a lopsided matchup on paper, to be sure. But it is a game nonetheless.

The students are here, the coaches are here, the players are here. The lights are up, the bands are playing, and the stage is set.

And since we're at Brian Westbrook's alma mater, let's take the advice of his coach (just this once).

Tonight, the time is indeed ours.

[ Listen with own player ]

Temple got 23 points in this week's AP football poll. That's the equivalent of 33rd place, higher than Georgia and Oklahoma among others.

Looking at the AP voters' ballots this week, I was struck by the two voters who ranked the Owls 20th: Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News and Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Fittipaldo has them ranked one spot above USC, while Wolf has Iowa 25th.

The full breakdown is as follows. The order is alphabetical by state, because that's how it listed on the AP's website:

Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News: 20th (6 points)
Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle: 23rd (3 points)
Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News: 25th (1 point)
Mike Hlas, Cedar Rapids Gazette (Iowa): 24th (2 points)
John Davis, Oxford Eagle (Miss.): 25th (1 point)
Keith Sargeant, Home News Tribune/Gannett (N.J.): 25th (1 point)
Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 20th (6 points)
Travis Haney, Charleston Post and Courier (S.C.): 24th (2 points)
Eric Schmoldt, Casper Star-Tribune (Wyo.): 25th (1 point)

Temple also got 17 points in the coaches' poll and 47 points in the Harris poll, which has more voters. But we don't know who voted for the Owls in those polls, because the ballots aren't made public.

Penn 17, Harvard 7: My Inquirer recap | New York Times | Boston Globe

Postgame reactions from players and coaches on both teams are in the audio player below.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - I've only covered two funerals in my life, and both were just a few months apart.

I forget the exact date, but it was somewhere in the middle of 2005 that John McAdams was laid to rest. I stood in the back of the room watching everyone you've ever seen at the Palestra, Citizens Bank Park and countless other places pass by the casket to pay respects.

The second time came a few months later, after Kyle Ambrogi committed suicide. There were so many people in attendance that afternoon that I couldn't get into the church, and had to stand next to a window to try to hear the eulogies.

I will never forget seeing Penn's coaches and players carrying Ambrogi's casket out to the hearse, an incredibly moving act of symbolism for the late fullback.

I bring this up because of the one thing I didn't mention in my recap of yesterday's Penn-Harvard game: the effect Ambrogi's suicide had on the Penn football program.

Al Bagnoli made a somewhat off-hand reference to it at this past Wednesday's local coaches luncheon, and the New York Times' Dave Caldwell explored the matter in some depth yesterday.

We will never truly know how much Ambrogi's suicide affected the Penn football program. Almost all of what little evidence we have took place on the field. The Quakers routed Columbia in their frst game after Ambrogi died, then laid him to rest two days later. The following Saturday, they thumped Yale at Franklin Field.

I covered that Columbia game for the Inquirer, and still remember seeing Dan "Coach Lake" Staffieri on the Penn sideline in a blue cheesehead-style hat adorned with Ambrogi's number, 31.

"There was a lot of frustration, a lot of sadness," running back Sam Mathews said at hte time. "For three hours today we were able to forget about everything and work on getting this game for Kyle. "

Al Bagnoli was even more forceful.

"That was my hope. That once the game started, we were going to be an angry team," he said. "Angry at everything that happened, the lack of rationale for how something like this could happen, and play angry and play emotional, and I think we did that."

So was linebacker Ric San Doval.

"This isn't going to stop. It's going to continue on week to week," he said. "Everyone tries to play with a purpose. But when something like this occurs, this is the purpose... We have someone up there watching over us."

But instead of moving forward, the wheels came off. Penn lost its last four games of the season, and finished 3-4 in Ivy League play. It was their first finish below .500 in a decade.

The end of that season brought some catharsis, but the 2006 season was another roller-coaster ride. With their kicking game a shambles, Penn became the first NCAA team to ever lose three straight games in overtime en route to another 3-4 finish.

The Quakers finished 3-4 again in 2007, including losses early at Dartmouth and in three overtimes at Yale.

Penn started last year 4-0, then lost at home to Brown. They had a chance to win a share of the title at home against Harvard, but Keiffer Garton was intercepted in the end zone with 20 seconds left in the game.

This year, though, there have been no almosts or nearlies. The defense has been exceptional, allowing only two offensive touchdowns since halftime of the Columbia game a month ago.

And I really don't think you can overstate the importance of Penn's win in overtime at Brown on Halloween. Whether or not it should have been, the circumstance was clearly in the heads of Penn's players. Their reactions after the game left no doubt.

The Quakers' offense finally came to life last week, even if it was against a really bad Princeton team. So the stage was set for yesterday's championship showdown.

What transpired was a first half that even Manny Pacquiao would have appreciated. Penn outgained Harvard 105 yards to 19 in the first quarter and 175 to 57 in the first half, and never looked back after that.

Harvard woke up in the second half, and had a chance to make things really interesting when it got to the goal line with just under three minutes in the game.

But Penn's defense stood up on fourth down, and the emotional release on their sideline was clear for all to see. Even though Harvard got one more possession before time ran out, Crimson coach Tim Murphy knew what he had just seen.

"They were the better team today, and they deserved to win," Murphy said of Penn.

Technically, the title race isn't over yet. If Cornell beats Penn and Harvard beats Yale, the Quakers and Crimson will split the championship. But just like only one Big Ten team goes to the Rose Bowl, only one Ivy League team knows that it came out on top.

I suppose I wouldn't have brought any of this up if Bagnoli hadn't first. But it's hard to not see yesterday's win as Penn slamming the door shut on everything that has gone wrong over the last four years.

It might not mean anything next season, but shedding the burdens of history is always of consequence.

Though their respective contexts are completely different, how do the Temple football fans among you feel about being bowl-eligible for the first time in 30 years? And how do the La Salle basketball fans among you feel about being an NCAA Tournament darkhorse? Wouldn't that put to rest the ghosts of the scandals that rocked Olney Ave. earlier this decade?

This has been quite a college football season so far. Now we're at the point where our local teams and fans are getting ready to celebrate.

Not a bad way to get ready for basketball season, is it?

[ Listen with own player ]

It's over. Penn has its first Ivy League football championship in six years.

BOSTON - Let's get this out of the way first: it's absolutely pouring here at Harvard Stadium. It has been all day, and it's not going to let up at all from the forecasts I've seen.

If you were picking blind between the Ivy League's best defense and its best offense in conditions like this, you'd probably pick the defense. But as stout as Penn is, Harvard has the psychological edge of having won the last two Ivy League championships. And they're playing at home, on a field where the Quakers haven't won since 2003.

Which, not coincidentally, was the last year that Penn won the championship. Will this be the day Penn's wait finally ends?

It's time to find out.