The Ivy League will be the only FCS conference not playing football this spring with the official announcement from the Patriot League that it is indeed planning a return to the field. From a league release (LINK):
The Patriot League has announced a plan for League schedules for baseball, field hockey, football, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball and volleyball during the 2021 spring semester. League play will be contingent on the League and its member institutions being able to conduct competitions in ways that protect the health and safety of student-athletes, coaches, staff members and their communities.
In addition to the nine sport spring schedules, the League has plans to host championships for men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's outdoor track and field, women's rowing, men's and women's swimming and diving and men's and women's tennis. Competitive opportunities will also be available for men's and women's indoor track and field.
Craig Haley of STATS summarizes the Patriot League football plans this way (LINK):
• Four-game conference schedule starting March 13 (Georgetown not planning to participate in spring season).
• Colgate, Fordham and Holy Cross in North Division. Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh in South Division.
• One game versus each divisional opponent with two non-divisional games. Championship game between division winners to be held April 17.
The STATS site has summaries of all FCS league plans this spring including the Northeast Conference (four conference games on Sundays and midweek starting March 5) and the Pioneer (six games starting March 13 with ability to add nonconference games).
There are 22 teams that will not be playing this spring, with eight from the Ivy league.
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Not by coincidence, one day after Saint Francis announced that it would not be joining the rest of the Northeast Conference and playing football this spring quarterback Jason Brown, who led the NEC in passing yards, completions and touchdowns, and 6-foot-8 receiver EJ Jenkins (13 TD receptions) both entered the transfer portal. The two were high school teammates who hope to find a new school as a tandem. (LINK)
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Keep an eye out for a new Dartmouth commit. Spotted on Twitter:
We got ourselves a "lock" + "down" corner! Dartmouth
With the postseason beginning the website InStyle has a story headlined, Six Female Coaches Are Heading To the NFL Playoffs This Weekend; We sit down with the Browns’ Callie Brownson and Washington’s Jennifer King, who say the influx of women in pro ball is “starting to get hard to ignore.” Finally. (LINK)
Brownson and King, of course, each spent a season working with Dartmouth football.
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Speaking of groundbreaking women with Big Green ties, MassLive has a story about a 2012 Dartmouth grad who is also a pioneer in men's sports under the headline, Boston Red Sox’s Bianca Smith wanted to be a veterinarian, then an MLB GM; now the first Black woman to coach in pro baseball has managerial goals. From the story (LINK):
Her ultimate goal now is to work her way up to major league manager.
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EXTRA POINT
I don't know about you but I teared up a little bit yesterday for someone I never met – but felt like I had – while watching this at the end of Alex Trebek's last Jeopardy broadcast. In case you missed it, this is the tribute that aired after his final Final Jeopardy:
