A Lateral Move?

Did you ever find yourself wondering what the perception is around the rest of the country about Ivy League football? Or if your perception of the Ivy game is clouded by your proximity to it?

If you have wondered about those things, consider what a columnist for the Des Moines Register said about football coach Rob Ash moving from Drake University to Montana State. Sean Keeler wrote:

(T)his wasn't a lateral move. Drake to Butler is a lateral move. Drake to Dartmouth is a lateral move. Drake to Montana State is a step up.

Drake to Dartmouth is a lateral move.

On first glimpse, that cuts pretty deep. From a school in the Pioneer League to any school in the proud Ivy League a lateral move? From a school whose schedule features a game against mighty the Waldorf College Warriors to any school from the legendary Ancient Eight a lateral move? He's kidding, right?

You make the call.

Dartmouth plays in the non-scholarship Ivy League
Drake plays in the non-scholarship Pioneer League

Dartmouth started football in 1881
Drake started football in 1893

Dartmouth has an all-time record of 638-395-46
Drake has an all-time record of 532-461-29

Dartmouth can't go to the FCS (nee I-AA) playoffs
Drake hasn't gone to the FCS playoffs

Dartmouth's home stadium seats 17,000 (or will)
Drake's home stadium seats 14,557

Dartmouth averaged 5,597 fans at home last year
Drake averaged 4,314 fans at home last year

Dartmouth plays on FieldTurf at home
Drake plays on FieldTurf at home

Dartmouth went 2-8 overall and 2-5 in conference
Drake went 9-2 overall and 6-1 in conference

Obviously, there are a lot of other things to consider such as coaching salaries, budget, institutional support, media coverage, national esteem, academic profile, etc. It still doesn't seem to be a lateral move, but it's a lot closer to that than it first appears.

Speaking of attendance, while looking up the numbers for Dartmouth and Drake (NCAA PDF file) I jotted down a few numbers. Here's the average home attendance for Dartmouth and its opponents in 2006:

1. Yale 18,562
2. Harvard 15,548
3. Princeton 12,220
4. Penn 12,021
5. Brown 6,517
6. Dartmouth 5,597
7. Cornell 5,008
8. Columbia 4,612
______
UNH 8,141
Holy Cross 5,742
Colgate 3,493

Green Alert Take: The surprise here is that Cornell's average attendance was so low. And while Brown did well to lead the second group of four, the Ivies clearly are a two-tier league with respect to football attendance.

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Anthony Gargiulo's alphabetizing ability gets a little more play in the Calgary Sun after the former Dartmouth defensive end made the Calgary Stampeders' roster. From the story:

"It's like Rain Man, it's not a normal thing," laughed Stamps GM Jim Barker. "Like he says, it's the most useless gift that any person could ever have. So is it a gift?"

Curious about the football associations at other Ivy schools? Check out this PDF copy of Cornell's The Crescent.