Conference Rating Time

The Sports Network has ranked the FCS football conferences this way:

1. Missouri Valley
2. CAA
3. Big Sky
4. Ohio Valley
5. Southland
6. Southern
7. Big South
8. Ivy
9. Patriot
10. Mid-Eastern
11. Northeast
12. Southwestern
13. Pioneer

How does that compare to recent rankings of the Ivy and its cousin?

2013 Patriot 7th, Ivy 8th
2012 Patriot 8th, Ivy 10th.
2011 Ivy 8th, Patriot 10th

Dartmouth gets a nod in the TSN Ivy League capsule, which reads this way:

Ivy League (eight programs) - Always better than advertised, the Ivy League isn't the usual Harvard-Penn logjam anymore. Princeton is sitting on a potential powerhouse after letting an outright title slip away last season. Harvard is still the Tigers' biggest threat, but Dartmouth - yes, the Big Green - is lurking. Penn doesn't want coach Al Bagnoli to retire without one more title run. 

•

Dartmouth grad Abbey D'Agostino will be running professionally for New Balance. (LINK) Watch the seven-time national champion's introductory video here:



New Balance had a pretty good "in" when trying to woo D'Agostino because it already hired Mark Coogan, her former coach at Dartmouth. (LINK)