Statistically Speaking IV

It wasn't long ago that Ivy League schools would photocopy spring guides with lists of returning letterwinners and sometimes even a spring depth chart. Because those days are for the most part gone it's a little harder to get a grasp on the final area of the field that we'll look at this week: the offensive line.

The definition of "returning starter" is different from school to school. If you started the first six games and then lost your job, are you a returning starter? If the guy in front of you was hurt in week seven and you started the last three games, are you the returning starter? (Some schools will list both players as starters.)

Keeping that in mind, while waiting for a phone call yesterday, I pulled up the opening-day depth charts for all eight Ivy League schools and the depth charts for their final games. Where there was a change up front (and there were astonishingly few) I worked backward to see when the change happened and then made a consistent call on what determines a "returning" starter for each school. Ultimately, I had my list of returning starters. (Your mileage may vary ;-)

With that out of the way ...

Returning Offensive Line Starters

Brown
2 returning (1 All-Ivy honorable mention)
3 lost (1 first team All-Ivy, 1 second team All-Ivy)

Columbia
4 returning (1 first team All-Ivy)
1 lost

Cornell
2 returning
3 lost

Dartmouth
4 returning (1 first team All-Ivy, 1 second team All-Ivy)
1 lost

Harvard
1 returning (1 second team All-Ivy)
4 lost (2 second team All-Ivy)

Penn
1 returning (1 first team All-Ivy)
4 lost (2 first team All-Ivy, 1 second team All-Ivy, 1 HM All-Ivy)

Princeton
4 returning
1 lost

Yale
3 returning
2 lost (1 HM All-Ivy)

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Speaking of spring football, Holy Cross has posted its spring roster and notables returning for a fifth season are quarterback Ryan Taggart and 316-pound offensive tackle Mike McCabe. Taggart started all 11 games last year, completing 58.4 percent of his passes for 1,899 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was 25-for-39 for 220 yards with two touchdowns but tossed four interceptions in a 27-19 loss at Dartmouth last fall. McCabe was an All-Patriot League first-team pick last year.

Green Alert Take: Dartmouth's Oct. 15 game at Holy Cross looks like a little tougher task today than it did before that roster came out.

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The Daily Princetonian has a story about how supplements can help athletes get bigger and stronger. After his team's loss to Dartmouth in the final game of the season Princeton coach Bob Surace talked a lot about the importance of his players increasing size and strength this offseason. Freshman quarterback Connor Kelley and sophomore tailback Akil Sharp are central to the Prince story.

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Dartmouth alum Ron Dougherty '54 continues as a key member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival committee in Canton, Ohio. From a newspaper story:

Dougherty, of Krugliak, Wilkins, Griffiths & Dougherty law firm, is serving his 16th term as chairman of the Safety Management committee. He also serves as chairman of the Joint Coordinating Committee that serves as liaison between the Enshrinement Festival department of the Chamber and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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Might the top level of college football might eventually move to a playoff system? As an Associated Press story suggests, there is a chance:

NCAA president Mark Emmert said Wednesday that he's willing to help create a playoff format to decide a national championship for the top level of college football.

However, that won't happen unless the leaders of institutions fielding teams in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision want to make such a change after contracts with the current Bowl Championship Series expire in 2014.

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If I'm going to toss the Penn State good up here from time to time, it's only right to toss up the bad as well. The exhaustive Sports Illustrated/CBS News investigation that included criminal background checks of college football players revealed that 7 percent of the 2,837 players they checked from 2010 preseason top 25 teams had been in relatively serious trouble. The five schools that had the most players in trouble: Pitt, Iowa, Arkansas, Boise State and Penn State. Find the Sports Illustrated story and video here.

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Are "Ivy League Diplomas Still Worth Price of Admission?" A CNBC story begins this way:

They're often called the elite eight, boasting U.S. presidents, Nobel Prize winners, Wall Street CEOs, world leaders—as well as famous actors and musicians—among their alumni.

But they're incredibly expensive and getting more so—prompting many students and families to ask: Is an Ivy League diploma really worth the money?

No. And, well, yes.

Thanks to a regular reader for the link.

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And finally, it was 0.8 below zero when Cooper the Wonder Dog and I headed down the driveway to get the paper this morning. According to AccuWeather, it could hit 19 below zero tonight in the Upper Valley. Dartmouth baseball and softball open this weekend and thankfully no, not in Hanover. Baseball (Daily D preview) is slated to be at Central Florida for single games tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. (Central Florida coach comments.) Softball has games in a tournament at Fort Myers, Fla., against St. Francis, Colgate, Tennessee-Martin and Florida Gulf Coast before closing with another game against Colgate.