"A Motivating Factor"

The Daily Dartmouth caught up with tri-captain Charles Bay to ask him about the Big Green being chosen seventh in the Ivy League media day preseason poll. Said the big defensive end:

“To be honest, I think the majority of the guys on the team don’t even pay attention to (the poll) because we can do a lot better than the rest of the league is predicting. While we have knowledge of it, we don’t really agree with it. It’s a motivating factor but it’s not where we’re going to end up.”

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Speaking of polls, The Sports Network/Fathead.com FCS Top-25 College Football Poll is in and one Ivy and one other opponent make the top 25. No fewer than five Ivy League teams collected votes including surprises Princeton and Cornell. Yes, I'm a voter, but no, I didn't put include either Princeton or Cornell in my top 25 and I'd like to see the SATs of the people who did. I'll bet they are pretty high, if you catch my drift.

No. 1 is defending national champion Villanova. Of particular interest to Dartmouth followers:

10. UNH
22. Colgate
23. Penn
25. Holy Cross
35. Harvard
50. Princeton
73. Butler
77. Brown
79. Cornell

In case you are wondering (you are wondering, aren't you?) the NCAA had 118 full FCS members last year. That means Dartmouth is one of 39 teams that did not receive votes.

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As long as we are on the subject of votes and polls and the like ...

The U.S. News & World Report rankings are in and Dartmouth is ranked No. 9 (tied with Duke and the University of Chicago) among Best National Universities. The college has a release here. To go directly to the U.S. News & World Report index of rankings, click here. A few rankings you might find interesting:

Best National Universities
1. Harvard
2. Princeton
3. Yale
4. Columbia
5. Stanford
5. Penn
7. Cal Tech
7. MIT
9. Dartmouth
9. Duke
9. Chicago
15. Brown
15. Cornell

(You had to know I'd point out that Penn State was No. 47 of the 191 ranked schools ;-)

Among Dartmouth opponents of the recent past and near future, New Hampshire was No. 104 on the Best National Universities list.

As for past/future opponents showing up among the National Liberal Arts Colleges:

21. Colgate
30. Bucknell
32. Holy Cross

(Probably to the surprise of no one, new Dartmouth Athletic Director Harry Sheehy's school topped the National Liberal Arts Colleges list. The top five overall:

1. Williams
2. Amherst
3. Swarthmore
4. Middlebury
4. Wellesley

Past/future opponents who are in the rankings for Regional Universities:

2. Butler in the Midwest
33. Sacred Heart in the North

In case you missed it, the Forbes rankings came out last week. You can find a BGA look at those rankings if you click here and scroll down.

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Dartmouth is a still a week away from opening practice and Bucknell has already finished its third two-a-day. For a look at how things are going for Dartmouth's Week One opponent, click here.

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A Daily Dartmouth story about Fieldstock, the summer event started as a replacement of sorts for Tubestock, quotes a couple of Dartmouth football players. One is summer Student Body President (and linebacker) Aaron Limonthas. The other is Fieldstock chair for Gamma Delta Chi and corner back Chad Hollis.

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From a story in the Boston Herald:

As respectful as he is of every opponent, coach Sean McDonnell nevertheless knew what it meant for the University of New Hampshire football team when Northeastern and Hofstra dropped the sport and Dartmouth suspended the series with its intra-state rival -- a more challenging schedule.

Ouch.

UNH, by the way, is playing twice in NFL stadiums this year. The Wildcats will play Pitt at Heinz Field and UMass at Gillette Stadium. The Wildcats have won five consecutive games against FBS opponents, a streak that will be in major jeopardy in the Steel City.

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And finally, That Certain Hanover High Junior is in his second round of qualifying in preseason practice for the school golf team. His first round put him on the cusp of a varsity spot. What he doesn't understand but I do, having been the primary golf writer for the local daily for 15 years, is that he would be a slam dunk on the varsity at every high school in the area except Hanover and Lebanon. Because those two programs are so dominant, he needs to "go low," to have a shot. And no, he said, he does not miss football. Not doubles, at least.

That Certain '14 has learned she will have to switch out of her DOC trip and into an early trip to clear the way for cross country preseason. She's disappointed about the change but excited about getting her college running career started.