Bracketology 2.1?

By the time you read this we'll be well on our way to Princeton but in the meantime, check out the NCAA.com prediction for the FCS Playoffs:

If that's a little hard to see, it has Dartmouth earning the bid and a game against Albany in the first round. Stan Becton's piece also has Harvard earning an a-large bid against Central Connecticut. (LINK)

#

Final game notes are not up yet on the Dartmouth site, but there's a preview story for tomorrow's game HERE.

#

The Daily Princetonian has a story and all three prognosticators have the Tigers coming out on top. (LINK)

#

In today's entry TigerBlog welcomes Dartmouth SID Elliott Carr back to Princeton and reminds everyone that yup, the Big Green Alert guy actuallly covered games at old Palmer Stadium, and offers a bit of a look at the game, all after first tipping us off about some worldly trivia. (LINK)

#

Picking Dartmouth is Roar Lions podcaster Jake Novak, who explains his pick this way:

The big game, of course, this weekend is Dartmouth at Princeton. If Dartmouth wins this game, they have a very, very clear path to the championship. They have one now, but it's just three games, and of course it'll be reduced to two if they can win this game.

 

 They are an underdog, however. They're 2½  point underdogs to the Tigers, which surprises me a little bit. I know Dartmouth has only emerged in the last couple of weeks or three weeks or so as the team that I thought they would be all season.

 

 Nevertheless, Princeton had nail-biter wins against Brown and Cornell at home. And I don't think that Princeton's offense is up to it against an improving Dartmouth defense. So I think Dartmouth's going to win this, and so obviously I'm taking the points.

#

The local Valley News talks with Harvard hero Cameron Best-Alston and coach Sammy McCorkle in advance of the Princeton game: 

#

Can't say I even knew the Lambert Cup was still a thing, but here is the ranking for FCS "supremacy" in the East (LINK):

Monmouth
Albany
Harvard
Lehigh
Princeton
Central Connecticut State
Dartmouth
Villanova
Colgate
Richmond
Other receiving votes: Stony Brook (11), Yale (7), Holy Cross (6), Stonehill (4), Sacred Heart (3), Long Island (LIU) (3), Penn (2), Bryant (1), Delaware State (1), Morgan State (1).

#

Working for Pro Football Network, Cam Mellor offers the highest-graded FCS safeties this season: 

Jackson Stone, New Hampshire: 95.7
Mark Johnson, Valparaiso: 92.4
Max Steve, Samford: 92.0
Mar Mar Evans, Lamar: 91.1
Javon Bejarano, Houston Christian: 90.5
JoJo Garcia, Stony Brook: 90.0
Omari Philyaw, Tennessee Tech: 90.0
No’Koi Maddox, Dartmouth: 89.5
Zachary Corna, Bucknell: 89.3
Jack Donahoe, Harvard: 88.7
Eli Campbell, Wofford: 87.8
Harrison Keith, Dartmouth: 87.5
Ayden Davis, NC Central: 87.1
Jason Salman, Valparaiso: 87.1
Xaden Benson, Harvard: 86.1

Of interest, the top-ranked safety comes out of Hanover neighbor Lebanon. And it would be interesting to see the metrics used that have Xaden Benson and his nine interceptions and five pass breakups not even first on his Harvard team.

#

And finally, one last look back at last week's Dartmouth win from the other guy's perspective. Harvard Magazine has a story HERE.

#

EXTRA POINT
Tough, tough travel year for Dartmouth football . . . and BGA. The good thing is we still have another month left of our two years of free charging our Ioniq 5 EV on the Electrify America network, so these trips haven't really hurt the bottom line.

It also helps that Mrs. BGA's sister lives about 12 miles from Princeton Stadium. We stayed there before the Lehigh game and will stay there tonight and tomorrow night. Now, if Mrs. BGA only had another sister who lives near Ithaca for next week!

#

Sometimes I'm guilty of taking the beauty of where we live for granted. Then I look out the window as I did just now and see this:

Still To Be Determined

Earlier this week The Optimist was checking airline schedules to Fargo, N.D. for the first weekend of the FCS Playoffs. It turns out that one prognosticator has Harvard heading to North Dakota and The Optimist figured Dartmouth would just sub in for the Crimson after winning the next three games. Nevermind that flying into Grand Forks, which is five minutes from campus. would make more sense than Fargo.

Well, another pundit has chimed in with another destination, again for Harvard (LINK):

FCS Untapped has the Crimso squaring off with Monmouth. If Dartmouth earns the Ivy League's automatic bid, the guess here is that the NCAA would try not to schedule a rematch between the Big Green and Monmouth.

#

 From The Analyst (LINK):

A number of teams are alive in conference races while seeking their first-ever FCS playoff bids. From the group, CAA member Campbell (7-2) probably has the only chance of an at-large bid if it doesn’t claim an automatic qualifier. In addition, the first-time playoff hopefuls that are within one loss of first place are Brown, Dartmouth and Princeton in the Ivy League, LIU and Stonehill in NEC Football, Lindenwood in the OVC, Georgetown in the Patriot League, and Marist, St. Thomas and Valparaiso in the PFL.

#

Roar Lions' Jake Novak has updated his power rankings and has Dartmouth back on top (LINK):

Ivy Power Ratings
Dartmouth
Harvard
Princeton
Yale
Brown
Cornell
Columbia
Penn

From the transcript of Jake's podcast:

I was, I think, the only person who picked Dartmouth to win the Ivy League Championship. And of course, as the season started, Dartmouth did not look so strong. And I was wondering what was wrong with them. But I never actually buried them too deep in the rankings. And of course, now I have them back at number one.

They see like the best team all of a sudden again, as they seemed to me before the season even started. And pretty much for the reasons that I thought they would be the best in this year and had a lot to do with Grayson Saunier, who I thought was, and I think now, is proving to be – especially if he continues on this trajectory– the best returning quarterback to the Ivy League this season.

#

For some reason, the wise guys at FanDuel SportsBook haven't posted the odds for Dartmouth-Princeton. Not that I could find, at least. Elsewhere they have:

• Harvard a 21.5-point favorite at home against Columbia

• Yale a 6.5-point favorite at home against Brown

• Cornell a 6.5-point favorite at home against Penn

Something called Vegas Insider has Princeton as a 1.5-point favorite at home against the Big Green. 

#

EXTRA POINT
In the bathroom I have a small, black analog clock that runs forever on a double-A battery. While most clocks these days will "fall back" at the end of October on their own, this isn't one of them. I'm here to tell you there was something incredibly satisfying about grabbing the thin plastic post on the back of the clock between my thumb and forefinger and spinning it back one hour. It's the little things. ;-)

Looking Ahead

Leave it to Princeton's weekly Town Topic newspaper to bring us the first thoughts out of New Jersey about Saturday's showdown for the Ivy League lead. From last week's Princeton game story (LINK):

With Princeton hosting Dartmouth (4-3 overall, 3-1 Ivy), the Tigers will need an incredible effort to overcome the Big Green.

“You want to control your own ability (in the league race) and we do but we are facing another good team,” said Surace. “The Cornell team was terrific — they beat the crap out of Lehigh and they beat the crap out of Yale. Dartmouth looked good on Friday (in a 24-14 win over Harvard). Every team is capable in every single game. If you play like we did in the first half, you are going to have a hard time winning. We settled down and played better in the second half and gave ourselves a chance but that wasn’t great.”

(Receiver Josh) Smith, for his part, is confident that Princeton will play well against Dartmouth.

“We are just going to take it one game at a time; hopefully we can keep building on this win,” said Smith. “It was good to see Dartmouth go out there and play well, that should be a really good game. We will go into tomorrow in our meetings and figure out some things. There is a lot we still have to work on. We are going to have fun tonight and think about the win tonight but tomorrow right after the meetings it is over and we are on to next week.”

#

Flo Football has a piece headlined What We Learned About FCS Football In Week 9: Scores, Highlights & More that includes this (LINK):

(T)he battle for this year’s Ivy League title and automatic playoff berth took an unexpected turn Friday when Dartmouth went on the road and handed Harvard its first loss in 2026.

OK, maybe it’s not as far-fetched as it feels, considering Harvard and Dartmouth were picked to finished second and third in the league’s preseason poll, but there’s now a three-team deadlock at the top of the standings.

#

The Sagarin Ratings awards the home team three points and that's enough for the service to have Princeton as a two-point favorite Saturday. Here's where Sagarin has Ivy League teams (and Dartmouth's nonconference opponents) in the full DI landscape:

128 Harvard
167 Dartmouth
168 Yale
175 Princeton
176 Brown
178 Cornell
211 Penn
225 Columbia

157 Monmouth
159 Lehigh 
231 Merrimack

Massey, meanwhile, ranks only FCS teams and has them this way:

17 Harvard
35 Dartmouth
39 Yale
40 Princeton
50 Brown
58 Cornell
68 Penn
71 Columbia

22 Monmouth
25 Lehigh
78 Merrimack

Not only do the two services have the teams in the same order, they see this week playing out the same way:

• Massey has Dartmouth losing at Princeton, 21-20, with 51 percent confidence

• As noted above, with Princeton getting the three points, Sagarin has the Tigers as a two-point favorite Saturday.

Massey Three-Week Projection
• Dartmouth rebounds from a loss at Princeton to win at Cornell (28-27, 52 percent) before closing out with a victory over Brown (27-21, 71 percent) to finish 5-2 in the Ivy League

• Harvard sweeps its final three games against Columbia (37-14, 96 percent), at Penn (27-17, 81 percent) and against Yale at Fenway (27-24, 57 percent) to win the Ivies with a 6-1 mark.

• After Dartmouth, Massey has Princeton losing at Yale (28-18, 81 percent) and defeating Penn (23-17, 70 percent) to finish 5-2 in conference.

#

EXTRA POINT
While we were visiting That Certain Dartmouth '14 and That Certain Fellow at their new house in Ellsworth, Maine outside of Acadia National Park, Mrs. BGA and I went just a couple miles up the road to check out Momo's Cheesecakes. In addition to the usual varieties, Momo's offers pumpkin chocolate chip, lemon blueberry, Reese's Pieces, Confetti and Kit Kat cheesecakes, and dozens and dozens more. Want a Biscoff or Nutella cheesecake? This is the place for you. Momo's home page

And here's the thing. Momo's is a self-service operation. Reach into one of the  refrigerated cases and grab what you want. There's no one in the converted garage when you go inside. You make your choice, slide your money into the red, metal box and make your own change if need be. So you know, this is serious stuff. An Andes Cheesecake will set you back $58 and a single slice to go is $7.50.

While one of the fridges was being restocked were learned that in the last 10 years they've only had four cases of being ripped off.

We were amazed just walking through the door and even more amazed when we signed the guest book. Lo and behold, only two or three names above us in the book was someone else from our tiny town of Newbury, Vt. What were the chances?

A Team Win

BGA Overtime had Your Mileage May Vary last night. You know who will be visit the site tonight. (LINK)

#

It was the biggest win of the year for Dartmouth but one proof that it was a team win comes in the form of no Big Green player being named offensive, defensive, special teams or rookie player of the week. Named to the honor roll, however, were defensive back Cameron Best-Alston, running back Jacob Henry, quarterback Grayson Saunier and placekicker Owen Zalc. Find the Ivy League release HERE.

#

Dartmouth also got a couple of mentions from Stats Perform:

Stats Perform FCS National Team of the Week
UAlbany Great Danes (45-35 win over Campbell)
Honorable Mention: Arkansas-Pine Bluff (63-21 win over Bethune-Cookman); DARTMOUTH (24-14 win over Harvard); North Carolina Central (34-0 win over Howard); Tennessee Tech (24-17 win at ETSU)

Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week
Trehsyn Feseli, Idaho State, DE, Fr., 6-2, 217
Honorable Mention: Xaden Benson, S, Harvard; CAMERON BEST-ALSTON, DB, DARTMOUTH; Jacoby Davis, CB, Abilene Christian; Rohan Davy, LB, Rhode Island; Colin Douglas, DB, East Texas A&M; Jayden Hancock, CB, Charleston Southern; Shewan Lewis, DE, UAlbany; Michael Williams Jr., CB, Southern; Brandon Webster, DB, Yale; Jace Williamson, DB, Marist

From Paul Justafan:

Two things I need to remember about Ivy League football — first, the best team doesn’t win, the team that plays best does.  Second, nothing gets decided until the final game is played.

Take Harvard’s 24-14 loss to Dartmouth. Both QBs suffered from red/green color blindness— Grayson Saunier completed five passes to Dartmouth receivers and three to Harvard DB Xaden Benson. But Harvard’s Charlie Smith threw five picks — which turned 13 points, at least. And when the Big Green needed a big drive, Saunier’s legs burned seven fourth quarter minutes and put the game out of reach.

Harvard may BE better — but Dartmouth played better.

Find his full posting headlined Learning with Three Weeks Left HERE. 

#

Editor's Note: One more reminder that the standings are ordered first by Ivy League record, then by overall record, and finally by current streak.

#

	FCS Coaches	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	Tarleton State (23)	9-0	645	1
2	Stephen F. Austin (3)	9-0	623	2
3	Montana State	8-1	593	3
4	Youngstown State	7-2	574	4
5	South Dakota State	7-2	549	5
6	Northern Arizona	7-2	507	7
7	Austin Peay	7-2	483	8
8	Illinois State	7-2	445	9
9	Tennessee Tech	8-1	435	10
10	South Dakota	7-3	421	6
11	Mercer	7-2	374	12
12	Lamar	7-2	364	13
13	Montana	6-3	338	14
14	MONMOUTH	7-2	299	17
15	North Dakota	6-4	281	11
16	LEHIGH	7-2	212	20
17	South Carolina State	7-2	202	22
18	Idaho State	6-3	165	23
19	Campbell	7-2	163	15
20	UAlbany	6-3	157	25
21	East Tennessee State	6-3	138	18
22	Abilene Christian	5-4	124	24
22	HARVARD	6-1	124	16
24	Alabama A&M	7-2	52	NR
25	Weber State	6-4	50	NR
	Dropped Out: Richmond (19), UC Davis (21)
	Others Receiving Votes: Richmond, 36; Chattanooga, 35; Jackson St., 12; PRINCETON, 11; DARTMOUTH, 9; Morgan St., 6; Colgate, 4; Wofford, 4; Central Connecticut St., 3; UC Davis, 3; UIW, 3; Dayton, 2; Northern Iowa, 2; North Alabama, 1; YALE, 1.

	STATS	W-L*	Pts	Prev*
1	Tarleton State (39)	9-0	1397	1
2	Stephen F. Austin (7)	9-0	1337	2
3	Montana State (7)	8-1	1308	3
4	Youngstown State (3)	7-2	1257	4
5	South Dakota State (1)	7-2	1233	5
6	Northern Arizona	7-2	1118	7
7	Austin Peay	7-2	1011	8
8	South Dakota	7-3	999	6
9	Tennessee Tech	8-1	960	11
10	Illinois State	7-2	941	10
11	North Dakota	6-4	801	9
12	Montana	6-3	794	14
13	Lamar	7-2	769	15
14	Mercer	7-2	680	16
15	MONMOUTH	7-2	582	18
16	Campbell	7-2	458	12
17	LEHIGH	7-2	418	19
18	Weber State	6-4	416	22
19	ETSU	6-3	339	17
19	HARVARD	6-1	339	13
21	UAlbany	6-3	326	NR
22	Idaho State	6-3	252	23
23	Abilene Christian	5-4	226	24
24	South Carolina State	7-2	200	25
25	Chattanooga	6-3	73	NR
	Dropped Out:  UC Davis (20), Richmond (21)
	Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): UC Davis (5-4, 3-3 Big Sky): 60; Alabama A&M (7-2, 4-1 SWAC): 54; Northern Iowa (4-4, 3-2 MVFC): 46; Richmond (6-3, 4-2 Patriot): 37; UIW (5-4, 4-2 Southland): 36; PRINCETON (5-2, 3-1 Ivy): 18; Dayton (7-1, 4-1 Pioneer): 13; DARTMOUTH (4-3, 3-1 Ivy): 5; Central Connecticut State (5-3, 4-0 NEC): 4; Jackson State (6-2, 3-2 SWAC): 2

#

EXTRA POINT
Hitting the road shortly for the 5½-hour drive back to Vermont. It was great seeing That Certain Dartmouth '14, That Certain Fellow, and their new house. And it will be great to see Griff the Wonder Dog when we finally get back. Word has reached these parts that he met some new friends from away on the Dartmouth Green over the weekend!