On The Fourth: Seventh? Eighth?

The Ivy League football media day is set for Yale Golf Course on Aug. 6. Green Alert will be there to once again file a story before crossing the Connecticut state line ;-)

It's at this annual gridiron-and-golf shindig that the Ivy League preseason media poll is released. Thanks to Jake Novak (who beat me to the grocery shelves to buy the first of the preview magagines) over at Roar Lions Roar we have a sneak peek at a couple of other polls that may well reflect what the Ivy pundits will produce:

Athlons' Prediction
1-Yale
2-Penn
3-Harvard
4-Princeton
5-Cornell
6-Columbia
7-Brown
8-Dartmouth

Street & Smith's Prediction
1-Yale
2-Princeton
3-Harvard
4-Penn
5-Cornell
6-Columbia
7-Dartmouth
8-Brown

I was surprised -- but not surprised if that makes any sense -- that Dartmouth was picked so low.

I was surprised because I'm a big believer in the tremendous importance of offensive line play and the Big Green's O-line, three years in the making, should be a clear strong point this year. And because the defense returns both the entire secondary and a very fine linebacking corps.

I'm not surprised because preseason placement is usually a cocktail of recent history, returning statistics and star power, and Dartmouth is lacking in all three.

Recent history, as we all know, has been dismal.

The stats? They show Dartmouth's leading rusher has graduated, the leading passer has graduated and the leading receiver has graduated.

As for star power, the roster shows no Terrell, no Dawson, no Hartigan. There is no Fiedler or Rosier, Cramer or Gargiulo.

So what does it all mean? The predictions make sense based on the variables so often used to make them. But that doesn't mean they got it right and I don't think they did. Parochialism aside, I expect Dartmouth to be a surprise team this year. The premium Green Alert site will have detailed analysis and previews next month. ...

Former Dartmouth basketball player and Harvard coach Peter Roby is taking over as athletic director at Northeastern.

A happy and safe Fourth of July to everyone!