The Wise Guys Chime In

The offshore wise guys have had their say and Dartmouth is opening as a 34.5-point favorite at Jacksonville. Elsewhere in the Ivy League six of the other seven teams are favored, including four on the road. In descending order of their strength as favorites:

Princeton is a 38-point favorite at home against Butler
Cornell is a 14-point favorite at Marist
Yale is a 12-point favorite at home against Holy Cross
Brown is a 6-point favorite at Bryant
Columbia is a 5-point favorite at St. Francis
Harvard is a 4.5-point favorite at San Diego

The only Ivy not favored:

Penn is a 13-point underdog at Delaware

Of Dartmouth’s nonconference opponents:

Marist is a 14-point underdog at home against Cornell
Colgate is a 10.5-point underdog at home against Maine

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STATS FCS Top 25
1. North Dakota State (3-0), 3,941 points (150 first-place votes)
2. James Madison (2-1), 3,747 (8)
3. South Dakota State (2-1), 3,653
4. UC Davis (2-1), 3,352
5. Towson (3-0, 1-0 CAA), 3,296
6. Weber State (1-2), 2,848
7. Kennesaw State (2-1), 2,757
8. Montana State (2-1), 2,536
9. Northern Iowa (1-1), 2,287
10. Jacksonville State (2-1), 2,285
11. Eastern Washington (1-2), 2,284
12. Maine (1-2, 0-1 CAA), 2,083
13. Nicholls (1-1), 2,070
14. Central Arkansas (3-0, 1-0 Southland), 1,960
15. Illinois State (2-1), 1,950
16. North Carolina A&T (2-1), 1,540
17. Furman (1-2), 1,464
18. Villanova (3-0), 1,293
19. Montana (2-1), 983
20. Delaware (2-1, 1-0 CAA), 912
21. Southeastern Louisiana (1-1), 882
22. Elon (2-1, 1-0 CAA), 689
23. Southeast Missouri (1-2), 570
24. Youngstown State (3-0), 497
25. The Citadel (1-2), 221
Dropped Out: Wofford, Sam Houston State

Others Receiving Votes: PRINCETON 220, Stony Brook 154, South Carolina State 118, Indiana State 110, DARTMOUTH 74, McNeese 67, Wofford 67, Sam Houston State 61, North Dakota 56, Northern Arizona 53, Southern Illinois 49, YALE 39, Dayton 38, Sacramento State 33, Monmouth 33, Lamar 16, Duquesne 12, Chattanooga 11, Austin Peay 8, Cal Poly 7, Alcorn State 4, Eastern Kentucky 4, Houston Baptist 4, ETSU 3, Mercer 3, William & Mary 3, UIW 1, Holy Cross 1, Idaho State 1

To save you from counting: Princeton is at 26, Dartmouth at 30 and Yale at 37.

Notably absent is Dartmouth Week Two opponent Colgate, which began the year ranked No. 13 in the STATS poll. The Raiders received no votes after dropping to 0-3 with a loss at William & Mary last week.

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FCS Coaches Poll (First-Place votes)
1.    North Dakota St. (26) 3-0
2.    James Madison 2-1
3.    South Dakota St. 2-1
4.    UC Davis 2-1
5.    Towson 3-0
6.    Kennesaw St. 2-1
7.    Weber St. 1-2
8.    Northern Iowa 1-1
9.    Nicholls 1-1
10.    Illinois St. 2-1
11.    Eastern Washington 1-2
12.    Central Arkansas 3-0
13.    Jacksonville St. 2-1
14.    Montana St. 2-1
15.    Furman 1-2
16.    Maine 1-2
17.    North Carolina A&T 2-1
18.    Villanova 3-0
19.    Montana 2-1
20.    Delaware 2-1
21.    Youngstown St. 3-0
22.    Elon 2-1
23.    SE Louisiana 1-1
24.    PRINCETON 0-0
25.    SE Missouri St. 1-2

Dropped Out: Sam Houston St. (21), Wofford (22).
Others Receiving Votes: North Dakota, 33; Sam Houston St., 26; South Carolina St., 20; The Citadel, 16; Houston Baptist, 11; Indiana St., 10; Northern Arizona, 10; Sacramento St., 9; Stony Brook, 9; Dayton, 7; McNeese, 7; William & Mary, 7; Mercer, 4; YALE, 4; DARTMOUTH, 3; Southern Illinois, 3; Austin Peay, 2.

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There are 25 teams listed in the Athlon “Power Poll,” plus three “Also Considered:”

McNeese, North Dakota and YALE.

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There are some interesting thoughts about the Ivy League replacing traditional Patriot League opponents with schools from the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League if you scroll down the Any Given Saturday FCS message board thread HERE.