Ivy League Ranked 6th of 16 I-AA Conferences

The web site I-AA.org has put out its final Gridiron Power Index (GPI), a system that synthesizes the results of 12 different rankings. The Ivy League ended up the sixth-ranked conference of 16 playing I-AA football with the Patriot League 10th. That's one step up for the Ivies from last year. The league was ranked fifth in both 2003 and 2004.

Here are the conference rankings:
Rank, Conference (Average Rating)

1. Great West Football Conference (22.35)
2. Atlantic 10 Conference (24.93)
3. Gateway Football Conference (30.04)
4. Southern Conference (35.67)
5. Big Sky Conference (36.59)
6. Ivy League (40.90)
7. Big South Conference (46.69)
8. Ohio Valley Conference (50.21)
9. Southland Conference (50.81)
10. Patriot League (55.79)
11. Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (58.23)
12. Northeast Conference (64.49)
13. Southwestern Athletic Conference (64.63)
14. Independents (67.70)
15. Pioneer Football League (69.58)
16. Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (83.64)

Here are the Ivy League (and Dartmouth opponent) team rankings:

T-15. Princeton (17.44)
23. Yale (21.11)
31. Harvard (27.11)
37T. Penn (34.56)
60T. Cornell (48.00)
73. Columbia (57.11)
75. Brown (58.22)
83. Dartmouth (63.67)

The kids and I are headed off to UMass this morning to watching the Minutemen take on Lafayette at noon. It doesn't figure to be much of a game but it will be fun to see former Dartmouth assistant Don Brown's team, ranked No. 1 in the GPI. I've known Don since I covered high schools for the local daily and he was an assistant coach with the Hartford Hurricanes in White River Junction. Aided by no fewer than 15 I-A transfers, he's got a powerhouse down in Amherst, Mass. ... It will also be fun to watch the I-AA playoffs and see what the Ivies are missing. We went to both of the New Hampshire home games in the tournament last year and had a blast.