Jim Margraff's record-setting 9-2 run this fall as head coach of the Johns Hopkins football team might carry him straight to the Ivy League.

Margraff confirmed last night he has been contacted by a representative of Columbia University to inquire if he would be interested in the vacant head football coaching position.

"It's one of only four jobs that I'd consider leaving Hopkins for," said Margraff, who is 75-52-3 with the Blue Jays. "I was an assistant at Columbia the year before I came to Hopkins (1990). But right now, my wife and I are happy at Hopkins, and my discussions with Columbia are very preliminary."

The Blue Jays had gone 32 years without winning a football championship until this season, when Margraff guided the team to a three-way share of the Centennial Conference title with McDaniel and Muhlenberg (all 5-1 records).

Hopkins, which had a school-record nine wins, later defeated Frostburg State, 24-21, in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Southwest title game.