Ivy League Preseason Poll

[crusader11]

http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/Princeton_Tops_Football_Preseason_Poll_for_First_T ime_Since_1992



1.
Princeton (9)

128



2.
Harvard (8)

127



3.
Dartmouth

91



4.
Penn

79



5.
Yale

68



6.
Brown

65



7.
Cornell

34



8.

Columbia

20



Discuss.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Darthmouth has really been trending in the right direction the last 2-3 years. They were among the very worst programs in the country....

[Go Green]

Dartmouth has really been trending in the right direction the last 2-3 years. They were among the very worst programs in the country....

Princeton made even a stronger turnaround. From back to back 1-9 seasons to league champion/preseason #1 in two years.

Hard to argue with anything. If Dartmouth's Kyle Bramble is fully recovered from ACL surgery, Dartmouth will be even closer to Harvard and Princeton.

[CFBfan]

Darthmouth has really been trending in the right direction the last 2-3 years. They were among the very worst programs in the country....

and then there's columbia.....

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Princeton made even a stronger turnaround. From back to back 1-9 seasons to league champion/preseason #1 in two years.

Hard to argue with anything. If Dartmouth's Kyle Bramble is fully recovered from ACL surgery, Dartmouth will be even closer to Harvard and Princeton.

Princeton has been up and down the last decade. They had a really good team 7-8 years ago. The Tigers have the facilities, location and name brand to be good nearly every year.

Dartmouth has been in the dumps since the mid to late 90's. Its location and size hurts it in some people's mind imo. The stadium renovation was only done 5-6 years ago?

[Go Green]

The stadium renovation was only done 5-6 years ago?

You may be thinking of the new varsity house, which is about that old. Excellent new offices, locker rooms, and weight room. It has been one of a few reasons why Dartmouth has been doing better in recent years.

Memorial Field's historical stands (the home side) are being gutted and replaced (from the inside at least) this coming offseason. It's not my impression that it will look any better than it already does, but the structure itself is crumbling. Hard to survive nearly 100 years of New Hampshire winters.

[crusader11]

and then there's columbia.....

This may seem like an overly aggressive statement, but has there been a worse program in the history of collegiate sports than Columbia football?

Since 1963, guess how many winning seasons Columbia has had.

[UAalum72]

This may seem like an overly aggressive statement, but has there been a worse program in the history of collegiate sports than Columbia football?
Amazingly, there are two in FCS (giving Incarnate Word a pass for lack of time). The bottom five:



123


Savannah St. (GA)


268


447


30



0.37987










124


Columbia (NY)


374


646


45



0.37230







125


Austin Peay St. (TN)


276


497


16



0.35995







126


Saint Francis (PA)


223


410


16



0.35593







127


Incarnate Word (TX)


17


35


0



0.32692

[aceinthehole]

This may seem like an overly aggressive statement, but has there been a worse program in the history of collegiate sports than Columbia football?

Since 1963, guess how many winning seasons Columbia has had.

St. Francis (Pa.)

The last winning season for the Red Flash was in 1992 (8-2-1). Since then, they have recorded a 42-179-1 (.189) record over the last 21 seasons.

The "Frankies" have had just 9 winnings seasons in the 45 years since football was restarted back in 1969. During this period they have had 7 winless and 5 one-win seasons.

Maybe things are headed in the right direction? Coach Villarrial's 10 wins in the past 2 seasons is the most wins since 1991-92 campaigns.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Wasn't Columbia supposed to be "better" with some great transfer QB?

Remember when Columbia and Fordham were just about even in competitiveness? It feels like 40 years ago.

[Ivytalk]

Harvard has its two toughest games on the road this year: Princeton and Dartmouth.

[PAllen]

Amazingly, there are two in FCS (giving Incarnate Word a pass for lack of time). The bottom five:



123


Savannah St. (GA)


268


447


30



0.37987










124


Columbia (NY)


374


646


45



0.37230







125


Austin Peay St. (TN)


276


497


16



0.35995







126


Saint Francis (PA)


223


410


16



0.35593







127


Incarnate Word (TX)


17


35


0



0.32692








Yes, but when your comeback is "We're better than Austin Peay and St. Francis!" you know you're having a bad day.

[Go Green]

Wasn't Columbia supposed to be "better" with some great transfer QB?

.

He got knocked out in the third quarter in the season opener against Fordham and was lost for the season.

Columbia also lost their best defensive player for the season that game as well.

Some programs are just snakebit... :(

[SU DOG]

I don't confess to know much about the Ivy league, but I just happened to take in a rerun of the Yale @ Dartmouth Game last night. On the telecast, Memorial Stadium looked like a nice facility with scenic surroundings and impressive video board. If Dartmouth has ANY back this year like Dominick Pierre, then I wouldn't bet against them. This guy could take a game into his own hands and win it. Unfortunately, I believe they said he was a senior.

[bulldog10jw]

This may seem like an overly aggressive statement, but has there been a worse program in the history of collegiate sports than Columbia football?

Since 1963, guess how many winning seasons Columbia has had.

I'm guessing 7 winning seasons

[bulldog10jw]

Harvard has its two toughest games on the road this year: Princeton and Dartmouth.

Yale will beat Princeton at home this year. Count on it. OK, don't count on it, but if Varga is healthy and they find a QB, I think Yale is improved again.

[Bogus Megapardus]

I've seen my share of Columbia Lion games over the years, and then some. With a few notable exceptions the Lions typically aren't a *bad* team. They have talent and they have good coaches, plus first-rate facilities (including a permanent indoor practice bubble) albeit some distance from the academic campus. Certainly they play with enthusiasm. But they're never quite to the level of the other IL teams. They're either a step slower or a few pounds lighter, or they just look plum worn out from traipsing back and forth between Inwood and Morningside Heights.

Just because Columbia can't run consistently with the other teams in its conference doesn't mean it's always a *bad* team. Those of us who are PL fans (and who are fed a steady diet of Ivy competition) know that the IL as a whole is substantially underrated nationally. Columbia simply is at the lower end of a conference that perennially ought to be considered one of the top 5 in FCS, IMHO. I can think of a number of non-Ivy FCS teams that Columbia could beat consistently and many others that would be 50/50.

Again - Columbia probably suffers from the worst student/institutional support in the IL. Students sought for admission to Columbia are of an ilk that despise football and football players (without ever having met a player or watched a Columbia game). Either that, or they've never heard of "American Football" because they "don't have that" where they come from. I'd wager a keg of Hanover's finest that a poll of Columbia undergraduates today would favor transformation of the entire Baker Complex into transitional housing for our eager new guests from Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. It's against that backdrop that I commend the stalwart Columbia Lion players and coaches for plugging at it despite the adversity.

[RichH2]

Yale will beat Princeton at home this year. Count on it. OK, don't count on it, but if Varga is healthy and they find a QB, I think Yale is improved again.
Thought Varga done?

[ngineer]

This may seem like an overly aggressive statement, but has there been a worse program in the history of collegiate sports than Columbia football?

Since 1963, guess how many winning seasons Columbia has had.

Prairie View out did them a number of years ago.

[bulldog10jw]

Thought Varga done?

No one inside the program has actually come out and said that officially. That is the rumor, though and Reno does seem to be secretive to the point of paranoia. He didn't play in the spring game, but has been around the team so I'm hoping they are just being cautious. We will soon see.

[bulldog10jw]

This was the last thing I read or heard regarding Varga:

http://portal31nhr.blogspot.com/2014/07/summer-notes.html


VARGA UPDATE

Yale Sr. RB Tyler Varga played in just six games last year because of a foot injury. He has made progress and saw a handful of foot specialists during the offseason.

So will the bruising RB be ready?

“I honestly don’t know,” Reno said. “I expect him to be here for preseason camp. Once he puts the pads on, we’ll see.”

[Go Green]

I don't confess to know much about the Ivy league, but I just happened to take in a rerun of the Yale @ Dartmouth Game last night. On the telecast, Memorial Stadium looked like a nice facility with scenic surroundings and impressive video board. If Dartmouth has ANY back this year like Dominick Pierre, then I wouldn't bet against them. This guy could take a game into his own hands and win it. Unfortunately, I believe they said he was a senior.

Pierre was one of the most complete backs Dartmouth has ever seen. He dealt with nagging injuries most of his career, and we will always wonder how much damage he could do if he was ever 100% healthy. Still had a great career for us. He will be missed.

His expected replacement is Kyle Bramble, who looks like he could be every bit as good. Had several long runs last year spelling Pierre. Unfortunately, he sustained a knee injury in the season finale against Princeton and had surgery. If he's fully recovered, Dartmouth is golden. If not, then challenging for the title will be difficult.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Harvard at Princeton, 10/25 @ 1:00 PM - This appears to be the can't-miss Ivy game of the 2014 season.

Holy Cross at Lafayette, 10/25 @ 3:30 PM - Lafayette's homecoming.

I am an alumnus of both institutions; as I live in Princeton, what are the odds of making this a double-header? Shave a quarter off each game?

[bulldog10jw]

Thanks to Bogie, (Bogus Megapardus) for the improved "Yale Bowl 100" avatar


http://www.anygivensaturday.com/images/SeamusLight/statusicon/user-offline.png

[bulldog10jw]

Harvard at Princeton, 10/25 @ 1:00 PM - This appears to be the can't-miss Ivy game of the 2014 season.

Holy Cross at Lafayette, 10/25 @ 3:30 PM - Lafayette's homecoming.

I am an alumnus of both institutions; as I live in Princeton, what are the odds of making this a double-header? Shave a quarter off each game?

Rent a helicopter (and pilot)?

[Bogus Megapardus]

Rent a helicopter (and pilot)?

I can make the run by car in 40 minutes, stadium to stadium. Helicopter would have to go from Forrestal to Braden Field.

[bulldog10jw]

I can make the run in 40 minutes, stadium to stadium.

It will all depend, I'm thinking, on how good the H-P game is. If it's like the last two years it will be hard to leave. But if LC is closer to your heart....

[Bogus Megapardus]

It will all depend, I'm thinking, on how good the H-P game is. If it's like the last two years it will be hard to leave. But if LC is closer to your heart....

Pards are closest to my heart and there they will remain. But it seems that many of the Princeton games I've been to in the last few seasons either go into OT or come down to the wire.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Looking again at the voting there seems to be a solid consensus on the top three (Princeton - Harvard - Dartmouth) with the remainder of the league trailing off from there. Penn (very surprisingly) is clumped together with Yale and Brown in the middle. Little regard for Cornell (sans Jeff Matthews) and none for Columbia.

Were I a bettin' man, I'd put Harvard #1 and Princeton #2. Penn and Dartmouth ought to be neck-and-neck for the #3 spot, followed by Yale and Brown (in that order). Cornell could have little to nothing this year (plus I think they'll lose their entire OOC/PL slate) so I'd go out on a limb and put Columbia at #7 with Big Red hanging on the caboose (with apologies to my First Lady).

[Go Green]

I've seen my share of Columbia Lion games over the years, and then some. With a few notable exceptions the Lions typically aren't a *bad* team. They have talent and they have good coaches, plus first-rate facilities (including a permanent indoor practice bubble) albeit some distance from the academic campus. Certainly they play with enthusiasm. But they're never quite to the level of the other IL teams. They're either a step slower or a few pounds lighter, or they just look plum worn out from traipsing back and forth between Inwood and Morningside Heights.

Just because Columbia can't run consistently with the other teams in its conference doesn't mean it's always a *bad* team. Those of us who are PL fans (and who are fed a steady diet of Ivy competition) know that the IL as a whole is substantially underrated nationally. Columbia simply is at the lower end of a conference that perennially ought to be considered one of the top 5 in FCS, IMHO. I can think of a number of non-Ivy FCS teams that Columbia could beat consistently and many others that would be 50/50.

Again - Columbia probably suffers from the worst student/institutional support in the IL. Students sought for admission to Columbia are of an ilk that despise football and football players (without ever having met a player or watched a Columbia game). Either that, or they've never heard of "American Football" because they "don't have that" where they come from. I'd wager a keg of Hanover's finest that a poll of Columbia undergraduates today would favor transformation of the entire Baker Complex into transitional housing for our eager new guests from Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. It's against that backdrop that I commend the stalwart Columbia Lion players and coaches for plugging at it despite the adversity.

You should be a guest writer for the Columbia football blog. Jake will get a kick out of you. :)

[Bogus Megapardus]

You should be a guest writer for the Columbia football blog. Jake will get a kick out of you. :)

Maybe it's because I actually watch Columbia football! I even know where to park and/or what subway to take to get there. Is that powder blue getting under my skin? ;)

[Go Green]

This was the last thing I read or heard regarding Varga:

http://portal31nhr.blogspot.com/2014/07/summer-notes.html


VARGA UPDATE

Yale Sr. RB Tyler Varga played in just six games last year because of a foot injury. He has made progress and saw a handful of foot specialists during the offseason.

So will the bruising RB be ready?

“I honestly don’t know,” Reno said. “I expect him to be here for preseason camp. Once he puts the pads on, we’ll see.”

I'm sure Reno said something about Varga at media day today.

Whether or not it was anything of substance… I don't know.

[Bogus Megapardus]

New avatar in order to provide a little support for a while. Lions get no respect . . .

[Go...gate]

Forty minutes to Easton from Princeton Stadium? That is terrific!

[Bogus Megapardus]

Forty minutes to Easton from Princeton Stadium? That is terrific!

Straight up Carter Road, skirt the Hopewell lights, over the Sourland back roads, bypass the Flemington Circle and haul azz up 31 (best to know the Clinton Boro cops) then do 85 -90 mph across that western stretch of 78. Best to have a sturdy American V8 in times like these. Works for me.

[2ram]

New avatar in order to provide a little support for a while. Lions get no respect . . .

they do need some support since their 'fan' base can't manage it... or that collection of idiots they call a 'band'.

it's not CU football i dislike... it's just about everything else about the school that gives me that throw up feeling...

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I can make the run by car in 40 minutes, stadium to stadium. Helicopter would have to go from Forrestal to Braden Field.

Hope there are no cops with radar on River Rd...

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I'm pretty tolerant, but when the band was joking about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit a few years after the "Liberty Cup" game where Fordham and Columbia were allegedly honoring their victims that died during 9/11... that pretty much sealed it for me. Any other day but that day.

[crusader11]

I'm guessing 7 winning seasons

The answer is three winning seasons since 1963. Incredible.

[Go Green]

I'm pretty tolerant, but when the band was joking about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit a few years after the "Liberty Cup" game where Fordham and Columbia were allegedly honoring their victims that died during 9/11... that pretty much sealed it for me. Any other day but that day.

I hadn't heard about that.

Indeed, the Columbia band has got a long rap sheet for pissing people off (sometimes funny, sometimes not) that I'm not even sure the Ahmadinejad skit makes the top 10.

[DFW HOYA]

Georgetown's only visit to Baker Field featured the Columbia band with some odd salute to the UN General Assembly, which was fairly worthless in that the school had 14 or so "marchers" on the field. (I counted.)

There is only one Ivy band worth talking about, anyway.

"The BRMB is the largest fully student-run organization in the Ivy League. It is larger, by far, than any of the other Ivy Bands (http://mb.bigredbands.org/links.php). Our membership is generally over 200 people. That, along with the fact that we have a general distaste for the use of stop signs, swimming pools, and blow-up dolls as instruments,"

http://mb.bigredbands.org/about.php

[Bogus Megapardus]

I hadn't heard about that.

Indeed, the Columbia band has got a long rap sheet for pissing people off (sometimes funny, sometimes not) that I'm not even sure the Ahmadinejad skit makes the top 10.

The Penn band always seems to make the trip to Easton. Their "safety school" schtick was a bit much but Columbia's miscue vs. Fordham took the cake.

By contrast last year's lampooning of Lafayette's "Frenchiness" by the Princeton band was comical and lighthearted.

[Bogus Megapardus]

Georgetown's only visit to Baker Field featured the Columbia band with some odd salute to the UN General Assembly, which was fairly worthless in that the school had 14 or so "marchers" on the field. (I counted.)

There is only one Ivy band worth talking about, anyway.

"The BRMB is the largest fully student-run organization in the Ivy League. It is larger, by far, than any of the other Ivy Bands (http://mb.bigredbands.org/links.php). Our membership is generally over 200 people. That, along with the fact that we have a general distaste for the use of stop signs, swimming pools, and blow-up dolls as instruments,"

http://mb.bigredbands.org/about.php

The full Big Red Marching Band made the trip to Princeton last season. They were decidedly "traditional" but their arrangements and musicianship put the crew in the orange flat-top hats to shame. It was impressive.

Big Red on the field, though - not so much.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

The full Big Red Marching Band made the trip to Princeton last season. They were decidedly "traditional" but their arrangements and musicianship put the crew in the orange flat-top hats to shame. It was impressive.

Big Red on the field, though - not so much.

Oh, you know how it is about all those Ivy League schools. All about the bands, nothing about the football.

[bulldog10jw]

Thought Varga done?

The word from Yale's first day of practice today is Varga participated and looked pretty much like his old self. It's just one practice, but that is encouraging.

[Ivytalk]

The word from Yale's first day of practice today is Varga participated and looked pretty much like his old self. It's just one practice, but that is encouraging.

Good news. Hope he makes a full recovery.

[RichH2]

Good news. Hope he makes a full recovery.
+1

[Pard4Life]

The answer is three winning seasons since 1963. Incredible.

Indeed... that was my guess. 1996 was their last winning season. Their other two are in the early 1970s, mid-late 1960s, I think. They were a game under .500 in 2010 if I recall.

[Pard4Life]

The Penn band always seems to make the trip to Easton. Their "safety school" schtick was a bit much but Columbia's miscue vs. Fordham took the cake.

By contrast last year's lampooning of Lafayette's "Frenchiness" by the Princeton band was comical and lighthearted.

The Frenchie thing is sooo trite, cliché and devoid of any meaning. In fact, I think the traditional American labeling of the French as 'sissies' or effeminate, surrender monkeys etc. is downright wrong. If it were not for the French, we would not be a country, not to mention the fact that several million French died defending their country in WWI. Sure, the French were embarrassed in WWII, but the German blitzkrieg was practically unstoppable at that point, and don't forget that the fearsome British were thrown into the sea and would have been under Russian domination had we not gotten involved. I'm no Francophile, but it's just completely wrong to label the French as they have been.

And that's my two sense... because the Princeton band $ucks.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

The Frenchie thing is sooo trite, cliché and devoid of any meaning. In fact, I think the traditional American labeling of the French as 'sissies' or effeminate, surrender monkeys etc. is downright wrong. If it were not for the French, we would not be a country, not to mention the fact that several million French died defending their country in WWI. Sure, the French were embarrassed in WWII, but the German blitzkrieg was practically unstoppable at that point, and don't forget that the fearsome British were thrown into the sea and would have been under Russian domination had we not gotten involved. I'm no Francophile, but it's just completely wrong to label the French as they have been.

And that's my two sense... because the Princeton band $ucks.

Stock up on canned goods. P4L and I agree on something.