National Polls Bleed Crimson

Today, Cambridge. Tomorrow, the nation.

Four Harvard teams are currently ranked in national polls. The hockey team has earned the number-two slot in the country, while both the men's and women's squash teams own the top spots in their respective polls.

Rounding out the field for Harvard is the women's swimming team. The Crimson is ranked 16th in the country, its highest ranking ever. Last year, Harvard finished its season as the 17th-ranked team in the country.

Women's Volleyball: Today at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., top-ranked UCLA (34-0) plays number-five Texas (32-5), while defending champion Hawaii (32-2) takes on fourth-seeded Illinois (30-3).

UCLA is the first team to enter the Final Four with a perfect record. This year, the Bruins have defeated the other three Final Four participants.

Streak: Since October 15, the Michigan State football, men's basketball and hockey teams have posted a sparkling combined record of 27-0.

Impresive?

Maybe.

Combine the winning streaks of the Harvard women's squash team (16 games) and men's hockey team (11 games), and the Crimson matches MSU's streak.

Throw in the 71-game winning streak of the Harvard men's squash team, and State has a long way to go.

College Football: Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders was named The Sporting News Player of the Year...Boston University defensive back Mark Seals has been named to the Walter Camp Division I-AA All American team...Vince Dooley resigned as football coach of Georgia after 25 years. Dooley has compiled a remarkable 200-77-10 record. He will coach the Bulldogs in the Gator Bowl against Michigan State.

Quote of the Week: "We missed that shot because the player plays for Vermont. We are a timid, scared team right now and I have to get the losing demon out of our system. We have to exorcise it out, and it's my fault that we haven't yet."--Vermont basketball Coach Tom Brennan after Catamount Mike Lubas missed a wide-open layup at the buzzer during his team's 53-51 loss to Harvard.

Quotes of the Year: Ever since the first Eclectic Notebook appeared on February 12, 1988, the EN staff has searched through several college newspapers for its Quotes of the Week.

Now it's time for the 1988 Quotes of the Year:

5. "The team that wants to go to Maine is like a team that wants to go to Maine is like a team that wants to book passage on the Titantic or a bus ticket to Little Big Horn. [Maine Coach] Shawn Walsh is like Sitting Bull waiting for Custer."--B.C. Assistant hockey Coach Steve Cedorchuk, referring to teams that have to play Maine.

4. "Look at the Miami Dolphins. They throw for 500,000 yards but they also throw five interceptions. And those interceptions knock off 400 yards."--Michigan Coach Bob Schembechler on his football team throwing the ball 25 times or less.

(Don't worry. We still don't know what Bo is talking about.)

3. "E to the u, du-dx; e to the x, dx; cosine, secant, tangent, sine, 3.14159; integral, radical, u, dv; slapstick, slide rule, MIT."--The school cheer for MIT, which played its first varsity football game in 87 years.

2. "It's like an orgasm that you've been waiting to have for five years."--Lee Feldman, a Columbia junior, after the Lions broke their 44-game winning losing streak with a 16-13 victory over Princeton.

(Drum roll, please.)

1. "I haven't had this much fun since the pigs ate my brother."--Harvard Trainer Dick Emerson at a frigid Soldiers Field during a Harvard baseball doubleheader against Northeastern. NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Top 15

Rank  School  Record 1.  Michigan State  17-1-0 2.  HARVARD  11-0-0 3.  Minnesota  14-4-0 4.  St. Lawrence Univ.  11-0-0 5.  Northern Michigan  12-6-1 6.  Maine  13-3-0 7.  Boston  10-3-0 8.  Lake Superior State  10-5-3 9.  Univ. of Ill-Chicago  11-6-2 10.  Denver  11-8-1 11. Cornell  6-2-0 12.  Michigan Teach  10-9-0 13.  RPI  7-3-2 14.  Wisconsin  8-7-4 15.  Michigan  7-8-3