Monday, August 11, 2014

Added Challenge

Thanks to the Ivy League's stubborn decision to limit its members to 10 games and Dartmouth kicking off under the lights at Butler last year, the Big Green was the last Division I team in the nation to start play in 2014. The Big Green held on to beat the Bulldogs, 30-23, in Butler's fourth game. (The Pioneer Football League team has already played South Dakota State, Wittenberg and Franklin.)

The Ivies begin play this year on Sept. 20, a day earlier than last year, but still well behind the start date for the rest of the free world.

Here's who the Ivies play in their first games and what games their opponents will already have played in parentheses:

Brown - Georgetown (Wagner, Dayton, Marist)

Columbia - Fordham (St. Francis, Villanova, Rhode Island)

Cornell - Colgate (Ball State, Delaware)

Dartmouth - Central Connecticut (Towson, Albany, Holy Cross)

Harvard - Holy Cross (Albany, Morgan State, Central Connecticut)

Penn - Jacksonville (Southeastern Louisiana, San Diego)

Princeton - San Diego (Western New Mexico, Jacksonville)

Yale - Lehigh (James Madison, New Hampshire)