Easy As 1-2-3

Find the Ivy League press release on the poll HERE.

 

From Away – Way Far Away

There's a new commitment to report, but first . . .

As of this morning, the Ivy League football news archive hadn't been updated since a Dec. 6 report on Yale's loss in the second round of the FCS Playoffs, but it should have something fresh at some point today when the conference media poll is expected to be released

As noted in this space yesterday, you can probably pencil in Yale, Harvard and Dartmouth as the top three teams, but we shall see. (More on that just above the PAT below. ;-)

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Dartmouth has periodically brought in productive players from Canada, like running back Ryder Stone '18 and kicker David Smith '18. Offensive lineman Konstantin Spörk '25 and linebacker Nico Schwikal '26 of Germany were starters on last year's team. And Nigerians Anthony Ndika '28 and Godson Ajoku '27 bring great size to the offensive line.

The latest addition to Dartmouth football's United Nations is Zikun "Tiger" Xiong, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive lineman from China. You read that correctly.

Xiong, who came to the United States from Beijin's Dulwich College high school, committed to Dartmouth out of The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Mass. (Thanks to an old friend for the tip.)

Xiong earned recruiting interest from around the Ivy League and picked Dartmouth over offers from Lehigh, VMI, Williams and Carnegie Mellon. His path to playing at an American college was paved by the Gridiron Imports Foundation, which celebrated his commitment with this graphic:

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HERO Sports' FCS guru Sam Herder has posted capsules on the teams he included on his ballot for the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 media poll, and two are on Dartmouth's schedule this fall. (LINK)

About his No. 17 selection, Yale, Herder wrote:

Yale won the Ivy League last season, earning the conference’s first auto-bid into the FCS playoffs. It splashed onto the postseason scene with an epic first-round comeback win at Youngstown State before a respectable loss at eventual national champs Montana State. The Bulldogs made a big-time head coaching hire this offseason when they landed 2025 FCS Coach of the Year Kevin Cahill from Lehigh. Yale returns its starting quarterback Dante Reno, plus six All-Ivy League players, including the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year in safety Abu Kamara.

Herder has Lehigh at No. 8, writing:

 Lehigh had a breakthrough year in 2025, earning the No. 5 playoff seed with an 11-1 record. The promising season fell flat in the second round, though, losing to eventual semifinalist Villanova 14-7. Defensive coordinator Richard Nagy was promoted to head coach this offseason after FCS Coach of the Year Kevin Cahill returned to Yale. Retention was still strong despite the coaching change. The Mountain Hawks return key players like QB Hayden Johnson, All-American RB Luke Yoder, TE Joseph Marranca, offensive linemen Aidan Palmer and Colby Reph, and safety Nick Peltekian.

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And finally, we head back to the Ivy League preseason poll. Here's how it shaped up last year:

1. Harvard – 118 (9)
2. Dartmouth – 105 (4)
3. Yale – 103 (3)
4. Columbia – 72
5. Princeton – 55
6. Penn – 49
7. Cornell – 42
8. Brown – 32

And here's how the season finished:

1. Yale (6-1, 9-3)
1. Harvard (6-1, 9-2)
3. Dartmouth (4-3, 7-3)
3. Penn (4-3, 6-4)
5. Cornell (3-4, 4-6)
6. Brown (2-5, 5-5)
6. Princeton (2-5, 3-7)
8. Columbia (1-6, 2-8)

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EXTRA POINT
A loyal reader shared the following. Seeing this, I have just one question:

Would anyone, anywhere actually buy one of these things?

For whatever it's worth, you can have your very own Dartmouth shower curtain for the low, low price of  $20.95, a full 43 percent off its regular price of $36.99. (LINK)

About The Poll

I read elsewhere that Ivy League will reveal its 2026 preseason football poll tomorrow. I can't say for sure because for the second year in a row – after voting in the poll for more than two decades –  I did not get a ballot. ;-)

Here's my prediction for how the poll will go, not how I would have voted.

1 Yale

2 Harvard
3 Dartmouth
4 Penn
5 Princeton
6 Brown
7 Columbia
8 Cornell

Green Alert Take: I'll be shocked if the top three aren't voted exactly that way. I could be wrong on 4, 5 and 6, but fully expect Columbia and Cornell, or Cornell and Columbia, to take up the final two spots. 

We'll see – probably tomorrow around lunchtime.

Green Alert Take II: How would my prediction go? You'll have to wait until I finish my research and post my comprehensive Ivy League preview on BGA Overtime to find out.

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Seemingly forever, college coaches, administrators, sportswriters and fans have taken shots at the NCAA, usually for good reason. Not to get all political on you, but the headlines the past several years, and even more so the past couple of days, have me thinking about TV talking heads who express concern about the chaos that can result in other parts of the world when a dictator is forcibly removed. Sort of the "better the devil you know than the devil you don't" thing.

Obviously, the NCAA still exists, but it has been stripped of most of its authority and the result? Utter chaos. Players transferring three, four or five times, $3 million college quarterbacks, $20 million college basketball rosters, and now advertising patches on college uniforms to help pay those salaries. All that, and now this:

NEW: Judge Charlotte Sweeney has ordered the NCAA to declare eligible all Class of 2022 athletes who exhausted four seasons this spring, per court documents.https://t.co/RvYVUBBhXw pic.twitter.com/NNLBjfCAqB

— On3 (@On3) July 31, 2026

And . . .

FCS All-American IOL Langston Jones is exploring a return to college football, his rep @kohllleo of @uasportsagency tells @chris_hummer and @CodyNagel247. 

He was a four-year starter at Lehigh. Participated in a NFL mini camp with the Jets but is no longer rostered. pic.twitter.com/pk1eP9jXlY

— 247Sports Transfer Portal (@247SportsPortal) August 1, 2026

And . . .

This new preliminary injunction in McQuaide v. NCAA is the latest where a judge ruled that a season at a JUCO shouldn't count against the Five-Year Rule. We will cite to it during our upcoming hearings for Ezra Christensen (Colorado) and Dean Miller (UCF). https://t.co/EAiz8IB6vi

— Darren Heitner (@heitner) August 1, 2026

Green Alert Take: If ever there was a time to follow Ivy League sports, this is it.

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EXTRA POINT
Our "idiot box" provider is YouTube TV, and out of curiosity the other morning I clicked on YouTube Live for the first time. I discovered you can watch live croquet and cricket from around the world, low-level futbol from Australia, and American football featuring kids who are 6-years-old and younger. You can actually watch soccer commentators watching soccer games, and video game commentators watching video games. There was some kind of car race from Russia, and outdoor remote control car racing on some sort of hilly artificial turf. There was a surfing championship, a cornhole tournament and a lot more. About the only thing missing was video of someone watching the commentators who were watching a contest. Then again, if I'd kept clicking through, that might actually be available, heaven help us.

Here It Comes

Happy August, everyone!

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Which reminds me that this went up on Dartmouth's social media yesterday:

Green Alert Take: I can't say I'm happy about the graphic, but not because of the football piece. I'm looking forward to the season, of course. What makes me unhappy is the reminder that we're 50 days (make it 49 today) from Sept. 19. Wasn't it spring just yesterday? And now we're on the doorstep of fall.

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College and pro teams increasingly do little or no tackling in practice once their seasons begin. But when Buddy Teevens banned tackling in any practice – including preseason – a lot of people thought he was crazy.

Mike McCarthy, in his first year as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, would disagree. From a FootballScoop story (LINK):

For nearly two decades, a trip to Latrobe meant one thing around the league. Mike Tomlin ran one of the most physical training camps in football, and everybody knew it. That era is over, and the man replacing him is wasting no time putting his own fingerprints on how the Steelers practice. 

Mike McCarthy told reporters this week that Pittsburgh will not do live tackling in camp, a first for a franchise that built its camp identity on physicality.

"I feel like we'll be able to get it done in other ways of training, particularly in our tackling drills and the team drills," McCarthy said, defending his stance. "Injuries are part of the game, and I think you've clearly got to do the best you can, and it's a judgment. You try to reduce risk."

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Dartmouth alum Bond Almand made a quick stop at the home of the Baltimore Ravens' on his bicycle ride to every NFL stadium and the Baltimore Sun has a story about his epic journey HERE.

But here's the thing. Since his stop in Baltimore he's already continued on to Philadelphia, East Rutherford, and Foxboro. As we speak he is midway across Massachusetts on his way to Buffalo. Track his progress HERE.

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Another Ivy Leaguer has been recognized in the HERO Sports countdown to the start of the FCS season. This time it's Princeton corner Evan Haynie at No. 27. Haynie had 31 tackles, five breakups and two interceptions last fall.

The list of Ivy Leaguers in the countdown to date (pun intended):

96: Yale DT Jaylin Tate
86: Cornell TE Ryder Kurtz
85: Columbia WR Titus Evans
77: Harvard OL Spencer Doan
75: Penn OL Luke Sacchetti
71: Harvard OL Thomas O'Brien
64: Princeton OL Barrett Eddlemon
37: Penn S Ty Cortes
35 Harvard LB Sean Line
29: Harvard K Kieran Corr
27: Princeton CB Evan Haynie

Green Alert Take: Will Dartmouth safety Harrison Keith get the nod when the countdown hits 24? His numbers certainly compare favorably to Haynie's with 46 tackles, four interceptions and four breakups last year.

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If you don't think Power Five football is out of control, this may change your mind. And here's something to think about: Notre Dame is considered one of the schools at that level that kinda, sorta has things in perspective, right?

Notre Dame’s new $100 million football facility looks INCREDIBLE pic.twitter.com/HMEH0fYdta

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) August 1, 2026

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EXTRA POINT
If you are a regular visit to this electronic precinct, you've seen pictures showing the view of Mount Moosilauke from our property. (If not, find one HERE.)

Well, this was the view this morning:

We've had thick fog here on occasion, but this was porridge thick. Visibility does not extend beyond our property.

July? That's A Wrap

Still another quiet day. Still another visit to the record book. ;-)

With Buddy Teevens, Tim Murphy, Al Bagnoli, Ray Priore and Tony Reno no longer prowling the sidelines, the Ivy League coaching roster has had significant turnover in the last several years. Here is the current roster of coaches, with their overall record at their current school, and their Ivy League records. They are in order of seniority. In parentheses after their names are how many seasons they have completed as head coach at their current school.

Princeton
Bob Surace (15)
Overall: 84-66 (.560)
Ivy: 56-49 (.533)

Brown
James Perry (5)
Overall: 20-30 (.333)
Ivy: 10-32 (.238)

Dartmouth
Sammy McCorkle (3)
Overall: 21-9 (.700)
Ivy: 14-7 (.667)

Harvard
Andrew Aurich (2)
Overall: 17-4 (.809)
Ivy: 11-3 (.786)

Columbia
Jon Poppe (2)
Overall: 9-11 (.450)
Ivy: 6-8 (.429)

Cornell
Dan Swanstrom (2)
Overall: 8-12 (.400)
Ivy: 6-8 (.429)

First Year at Current School:

Penn
Ricky Santos (5 years at New Hampshire)
Overall: 37-24 (.607)
CAA: 28-12 (.700)

Yale
Kevin Cahill (3 years at Lehigh)
Overall: 23-14 (.622)
Patriot League: 13-6 (684)

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And just because, here are some names from the past:

Ivy League Coaches With More than 100 Wins:
200 Tim Murphy (Harvard, 1994-2023)
183 Al Bagnoli (Penn, 1992-2014; Columbia 2015-22)
179 Carmen Cozza (Yale, 1965-96)
140 Edward Robinson (Brown, 1898-01, 1904-07 & 1910-25)
127 Bob Blackman (Dartmouth, 1955-70; Cornell, 1977-82)
124 George Woodruff (Penn, 1892-1901)
120 Tuss McLaughry (Brown, 1926-40; Dartmouth, 1941-42 & 1945-54)
117 Joe Restic (Harvard, 1971-93)
117 Buddy Teevens, Dartmouth, 1987-91, 2005-22)
114 Phil Estes (Brown, 1998-18)
110 Lou Little (Columbia, 1930-56)

And while I knew Tim Murphy had a lot of success against Dartmouth, where his record against the Big Green stands is still an eye-opener:

Coaches With 20 Or More Wins vs. One Ivy Opponent
25 Carm Cozza (vs. Columbia, 1965-96)
23 Tim Murphy (vs. Columbia, 1994-2023)
23 Tim Murphy (vs. Dartmouth, 1994-2023)
22 Joe Restic (vs. Columbia, 1971-93)
22 Carm Cozza (vs. Brown, 1965-96)
22 Carm Cozza (vs. Princeton, 1965-96)
22 Tim Murphy (vs. Brown, 1994-2023)
21 Bob Blackman (vs. Columbia, 1955-70 & 1977-82)
21 Al Bagnoli (vs. Dartmouth, 1992-22)
21 Tim Murphy (vs. Cornell, 1994-2023)
20 Al Bagnoli (vs. Columbia, 1992-2014)
20 Al Bagnoli (vs. Cornell, 1992-22)

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The Ivy League preseason media poll – for the second year in a row sans my vote – comes out Monday, In the meantime, here are the conference preseason polls for Dartmouth's out-of-league opponents:

CAA
1. Rhode Island (144, 12 first-place votes)

2. Monmouth (119)

3. Elon (115)

4. New Hampshire (106)

5. Stony Brook (105, 1)

6. Towson (93)

7. Maine (88)

8. Campbell (56)

9. Bryant (50)

10. Sacred Heart (49)

11. UAlbany (35)

12. North Carolina A&T (28)

13. Hampton (26)

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Devin Farrell (Rhode Island, QB)

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Jaeden Jones (Monmouth, S)

Patriot

1. Villanova (79, 7 first-place votes)

2. Lehigh (75, 3)

T3. Richmond (57)

T3. William & Mary (57)

5. Lafayette (55)

6. Holy Cross (38)

7. Colgate (36)

T8. Fordham (19)

T8. Georgetown (19)

10. Bucknell (15)

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Luke Yoder (Lehigh, RB)

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Camden Byrd (Richmond, DL)

The Big Green's final nonconference opponent, Merrimack, is one of two independents in the FCS. Can you name the other?

If you guessed Chicago State, give yourself a gold star. For the record, Chicago State kicks off its inaugural season against Roosevelt University at the ever-so-charmingly named SeatGeek Stadium on Aug. 29. The Cougars will play in the Northeast Conference next fall.

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EXTRA POINT
This headline regarding an enforcement initiative in Dunellen, N.J., caught my eye (LINK):

New Jersey officers dress up as shrubs to catch distracted drivers on their phones

Listen, I absolutely want drivers messing with their phones when they are behind the wheel to be ticketed. I don't want them crashing into me because they are distracted.

But to be fair, I don't want someone in another car crashing into me because they see a "shrub" looking through binoculars like the one in the picture accompanying the story:

It turns out 74 drivers were cited in six hours, and that's more frightening than the shrub.

The Changing Game

Another quiet day in the Ivy League footballsphere, so another visit to the record book.

Curious how football has changed over the years? Check out the top-10 Ivy League scoring defenses over the years versus the top-10 Ivy League scoring offenses.

Only one team since 1974 makes the defensive list – Penn in 1994.

Conversely, the top-10 scoring teams have all been since 2000, with Brown in 2000 and '05 the forerunners of today's kind of scoring.

TOP 10 SCORING DEFENSES

Year	School	Pts	PPG	Record
1970	Dartmouth	42	4.7	9-0-0
1964	Princeton	53	5.9	9-0-0
1962	Dartmouth	57	6.3	9-0-0
1966	Harvard	60	6.7	8-1-0
1965	Harvard	62	6.9	8-1-0
1960	Dartmouth	66	7.3	6-3-0
1974	Yale	67	7.4	8-1-0
1994	Penn	68	7.6	9-0-0
1965	Dartmouth	71	7.9	9-0-0
1959	Penn	73	8.1	7-1-1

TOP 10 SCORING TEAMS

Year	School	Pts	PPG	Record
2018	Princeton	470	47.0	10-0-0
2013	Princeton	437	43.7	8-2-0
2014	Yale	411	41.1	8-2-0
2012	Harvard	394	39.4	8-2-0
2019	Yale	387	38.7	9-1-0
2000	Brown	375	37.5	7-3-0
2011	Harvard	374	37.4	9-1-0
2013	Harvard	371	37.1	9-1-0
2005	Brown	368	36.8	9-1-0
2025	Harvard	401	36.5	9-2-0

Dartmouth's top scoring offense was the 1992 team that averaged 36.4 points while going 8-2.

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From a story out of the Tennessee Titans' camp (LINK):

Ahead of their first practice, the team announced the addition of four new coaches who have joined head coach Robert Saleh's staff for training camp as part of the NFL's Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship program: D'Anthony Batiste (offensive line), Malik Davis (defensive line), Ben Wilkerson (special teams) and Lucy Phan (performance).

And . . . 

Ben Wilkerson - Special teams

Wilkerson will be joining Tennessee to work with special teams coordinator John "Bones" Fassel and the special teams unit. Currently the running backs coach at Dartmouth, Wilkerson began his career as quarterbacks coach at Buffalo State in 2019, before moving to Susquehanna in the same role. He has also coached at the University at Buffalo and as a running backs coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

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The list of Dartmouth opponents considered by HERO Sports the best to wear the uniform number representing the days until the FCS season has grown by two.

At No. 29 is Harvard placekicker Kieran Corr. From HERO's posting on him:

-2026 Junior
-2025: 39/40 PATs, 11/13 field goals, long of 53 yards (a game-winner vs. Penn)h the 
-2025 All-Ivy League 1st Team

At No. 30 yesterday was Monmouth safety Jaeden Jones. From HERO:

-2026 Junior
-6’0” 190 lbs
-2025: 118 tackles, 5 TFLs, 1 INT, 3 PBUs
-2025 All-CAA 1st Team
-2025 2x FCS All-American
-2026 CAA Preseason Defensive POY

Ivy Leaguer's selected to date:

96: Yale DT Jaylin Tate
86: Cornell TE Ryder Kurtz
85: Columbia WR Titus Evans
77: Harvard OL Spencer Doan
75: Penn OL Luke Sacchetti
71: Harvard OL Thomas O'Brien
64: Princeton OL Barrett Eddlemon
37: Penn S Ty Cortes
29: Harvard K Kieran Corr

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Curious about Ivy League players arranging their careers so they can grad transfer to the FBS? With the new five years to play five seasons eligibility rule, the formula will change, but this interview with former standout Harvard wide receiver Cooper Barkate still offers some good insight. Barkate arranged his academic load to be able to graduate from Harvard in three years. He then grad transferred to Duke, where he had a tremendous season last fall, and will play this year for the Miami Hurricanes. Interviewer Mason Shipp is a former Yale wide receiver.

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EXTRA POINT
I'm tempted not to admit this, but what the heck.

Jeopardy recently finished airing its new programs, and is now showing reruns. Because our TV is set up to record only new episodes of the quiz show, we hadn't had a chance to watch any of the reruns until last night.

Now the confession. The episode we watched last night first aired on Jan. 7. While Mrs. BGA and I both recognized all three contestants, we agree that even though we had seen all of the clues and answers previously, we did not fare any better barking out the answers, er, questions.

The Final Jeopardy clue was: "In a 21st century Pulitzer Prize winner, this character introduced in an 1876 work is biracial." Both us knew what the book was, and both of us – like all three contestants – chose the wrong character.