Outgoing Cornell AD on Ivy League scheduling and playoff participation

[Pard4Life]

Penn was still trying to play big time football in the early fifties. Everything I've read and heard from others was that Penn was given preference over Colgate solely because the Ivy League wanted that presence in Philadelphia to go along with Boston and New York.

Penn had always been associated with the Ivy group in some form through scheduling from the beginning. Lafayette was supposedly a candidate member of the Ivy but a nasty game against Penn - where our students charged the field and beat-up the team - nixed that. However we were are apart of the "Group of 3 association" Big 3: HYP, Middle 3: Lafayette-Lehigh-Rutgers, Little 3: Amherst-Williams-Wesleyan ... and look what Rutgers has become.

[Ivytalk]

... and look what Rutgers has become.

The newest rest stop on the NJ Turnpike.

[Sader87]

I think the Ivies will go "11 game seasons" soon but I don't see the FCS playoffs anytime soon

[Franks Tanks]

When the AI was proposed in 1981, Penn took the full five years to implement its AI levels, whereas Dartmouth and Yale did so immediately.

That's a big reason why Penn won five straight titles in the 1980s, whereas former league powers Dartmouth and Yale had a string of losing years. I strongly suspect that Columbia also implemented its AI immediate as well, and resulted in "The Streak I."

That's also a big reason why Penn got a reputation for being lax on admissions. Took them almost a generation to shake that rep.

That must explain how Tom Gilmore ended up at Penn

[caribbeanhen]

The newest rest stop on the NJ Turnpike.

what exit?

[NY Crusader 2010]

That must explain how Tom Gilmore ended up at Penn

I know this was tongue in cheek (and also hilarious) but believe it or not TG may have been one of the smartest guys not just on the football team but in his class as a whole. He was a computer science major and actually had a job offer lined up to work on nuclear submarines coming out of undergrad. Obviously, he chose the coaching route instead.

[Franks Tanks]

I know this was tongue in cheek (and also hilarious) but believe it or not TG may have been one of the smartest guys not just on the football team but in his class as a whole. He was a computer science major and actually had a job offer lined up to work on nuclear submarines coming out of undergrad. Obviously, he chose the coaching route instead.

For sure, I know his grades at Penn were outstanding, and far superior to mine!

[Ivytalk]

what exit?

8 3/4

[Go Green]

I know this was tongue in cheek (and also hilarious) but believe it or not TG may have been one of the smartest guys not just on the football team but in his class as a whole. He was a computer science major and actually had a job offer lined up to work on nuclear submarines coming out of undergrad. Obviously, he chose the coaching route instead.

I didn't know about Gilmore's academic record, but I'm not surprised. Having played for him at Dartmouth, he did indeed come across as an intelligent guy (and yes, super-intense).

But the wisecrack was pretty typical of the fallout from Penn's decision not to implement the AI until the last minute. Penn had to put up with that sort of stuff for pretty much a generation--a lot of it coming from Princeton.

Penn and Needles - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com

[Southsider]

That must explain how Tom Gilmore ended up at Penn

When the AI was proposed in 1981, Penn took the full five years to implement its AI levels, whereas Dartmouth and Yale did so immediately.

Well, it didn't help them in the early 80's

1980 - LU 38 Penn 10
1981 - LU 58 - Penn 0