About That Poll

Once more, with feeling ...

Ivy League Preseason Media Poll

(First place votes) points
1. Harvard (10) 128
2. Penn (6) 124
3. Brown 95
4. Yale (1) 83
5. Columbia 61
6. Princeton 55
7. Dartmouth 39
8. Cornell 27

Each year Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens looks over the Ivy League preseason media poll and says pretty much the same thing. He understands. His team hasn't won. And it's the standings at the end of the year that matter, not the preseason.

Asked yesterday about this year's poll, Teevens surprised. Being picked seventh rankled him.

"Those things don't usually affect me too much," he admitted, "but I was ticked off when I read it."

With just 10 offensive starters returning, 10 defensive starters back, the Ivy League's leading rusher and potentially the most dominating defensive lineman in the conference, the Big Green coach was surprised his team wasn't given more respect. Granted, last year's 2-8 record wasn't what anyone in Green Nation hoped for, but the second half of the season did see Dartmouth go 2-3 with only an overtime loss at Brown keeping that from being a winning mark.

"With the number of guys we have coming back, the quality of the people who are playing, the development that is ongoing, the experience younger players have earned the last few years, I was surprised," Teevens said of the poll. "People are graduating guys out and we haven't except for one here or one there.

"Either the (voters) have completely ignored all that, and haven't studied anything about our football program, or they just think we aren't very good. We have something to prove."

Added Teevens: "It came out and I spoke to the players and the staff about it. We all feel the same way. It is what it is, but it just adds fuel to the fire. The kids are ticked. It ticked a lot of us off. Guys are working hard. We are making a lot of progress.

"We may be a well-kept secret to most, but it's another source of inspiration. If that's what they think of Dartmouth, it's fine. We won't forget it. My guys are well aware of it."

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Not all former quarterbacks end up as color commentators on ESPN or CBS. Some can actually write. Helps, of course, if they have an Ivy League degree.

If you don't believe it, check out this New England Patriots 2010 Preview and Prediction on Bleacher Report. The writer?

Former Dartmouth quarterback Alex Jenny '10.

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Speaking of quarterbacks, check out this video story on King5.com with incoming Dartmouth quarterback Andy Gay. The Seattle-area product and fellow freshman QB Cole Marcoux have both been in town throwing and working out.

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I saw a Jay Paterno tweet yesterday that boiled coaching down to the basics. Paterno's father – you may have heard of him – told the Penn State coaching staff what Vince Lombardi once told him about their business: "It's about getting the right guy in the right place doing the right things at the right time."

Sounds about right ;-)

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Check Green Alert Premium tonight for an in-depth look at Columbia, the second in a series of previews of Dartmouth opponents.