While the NBA season began last night, college basketball is still a little ways off. The Red is anxious to face real competition; however, the team will have to wait another two and a half weeks for its season to begin. In the meantime, the team is practicing hard in hopes of meeting the sky-high expectations that have been placed upon Cornell basketball.

In its final tune-up before welcoming Bucknell for its home opener on Sept. 19, Cornell outscored Hobart with three touchdowns and two field goals in a scrimmage at Schoellkopf Field Saturday afternoon. The starters played only one quarter against the Statesmen, ranked No. 17 in the nation amongst D-III programs, but scored 10 unanswered points and played lockdown defense before turning things over to the backups.

Senior quarterback Ben Ganter was efficient in limited action, completing 6-of-9 pass attempts for 85 yards. Wearing an alternate black jersey as a precautionary measure, Ganter displayed a strong arm and solid command of the offense.

It’s official: football season has arrived. ESPN aired its first college football broadcast last night, and local football fans will get their first chance of the year to see the Cornell team in intersquad action tomorrow at noon on Schoellkopf field when the Red will play a scrimmage against Hobart College. In last week’s intrasquad scrimmage, head coach Jim Knowles and his staff polished up the team’s depth chart and shed some light on the ongoing position battles of the preseason. Senior Ben Ganter was named the team’s starting quarterback at the first practice of the preseason, and it appears that senior Randy Barbour will be the team’s featured back for the second year in a row.

Tomorrow afternoon in Newman Arena, the men’s basketball team will take its first baby steps toward defending its first Ivy championship in 20 years. The annual Red-White game — a full-court, five-on-five intrasquad scrimmage with referees and all official rules — will begin at 4:30.

While official practice has only been underway for three weeks as of today, the Red’s first game is right around the corner. The Red-White scrimmage will be a final tuneup before opening the season at home against South Dakota next Friday.