Friday night lights. National stage. Coach McCorkle talks the challenge and opportunity ahead vs Columbia.#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods pic.twitter.com/IlOF7WVjtK
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) October 22, 2025
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From an FCS Football Central On SI posting headlined FCS Football Playoff Picture: Oct. 21 (Week 9):
IVY LEAGUE
Locks: None
Should Be In: None
Work To Do: Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale
Harvard certainly appears to be in the driver's seat with a dominant 5-0 start to the season. The Crimson will be the favorite to win the auto bid, but with their weak strength of schedule, they would probably need to be 9-1 to garner at-large consideration. A potential 9-1 Harvard team on the bubble could create significant uncertainty for other bubble teams around the country. The teams most likely to steal that auto bid would be Penn or Princeton. They are both still undefeated in conference play, with Princeton playing Harvard this weekend. The other teams still hovering around this conversation are Yale and Dartmouth. Both teams have one conference loss, but still have the opportunity to play Harvard, which keeps them alive. Yale also plays Penn in an important Ivy League game this weekend.
Find the full FCS whip-around playoff picture posting HERE.
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The Analyst’s Craig Haley from a column headlined FCS Football Week 9 Preview & Predictions: NDSU vs. SDSU and All the Panda-monium (LINK):
The Ivy League gaining two bids in its first season of participating in the FCS playoffs may be unlikely with its teams limited to 10-game resumes, or two fewer games than what’s allowed in other conferences. But the eight teams combined on a 16-8 nonconference record, and six of the eight have winning records halfway through their schedules. At least one of the three first-place teams will be knocked down on Saturday as No. 14 Harvard (5-0, 2-0) visits Princeton (3-2, 2-0), and Penn (4-1, 2-0) has the always tough assignment at Yale (3-2, 1-1), which has won nine of its last 10 home games since the visiting Quakers won there in 2023.
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HERO Sports has a piece headlined 2025 PFF Highest-Graded FCS Teams After Week 8 that uses Pro Football Focus analytics as a way to grade performance by various team units so far this season. Here are the Ivy League teams ranking in the top 10, starting with the lone Dartmouth appearance (LINK):
Tackling
1. Presbyterian – 92.4
2. Bryant – 91.1
3. Penn – 90.4
4. Harvard – 90.2
5. Texas Southern – 90.1
6. Rhode Island – 89.7
7. William & Mary – 86.6
8. Dartmouth – 86.1
9. Cal Poly – 86.0
10. Montana State – 85.9
Other Ivy League Ranks:
Coverage: 1. Harvard
Passing: 3. Harvard
Special Teams: T4. Yale
Defense: 5. Harvard
Offense: 6. Harvard
Pass Blocking: 6. Penn
Run Blocking: 6. Yale
Receiving: 7. Harvard
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EXTRA POINT
Here’s a view of the White Mountains at sunrise from our Vermont hillside home this morning .
And yes, the colors are pretty accurate. ;-)
