Last Weekend on the Sidelines

This will be the last Saturday without Ivy League and Columbia football.

But again, all three of Columbia's out of conference opponents will be playing.

Week 1 opponent St. Francis is a 10 1/2 point favorite at home against Merrimack, one week after Merrimack almost pulled off a big win over week four opponent CCSU.

CCSU is a 3 point favorite on the road at Valparaiso.

And week 2 Georgetown is a 43 1/2 point favorite at home against Division III Catholic University.

CU STATUS

Columbia is healthier than it was at this point last year, (very few people fail to realize that the Lions were depleted by injuries even BEFORE the first game at CCSU). But there were some bad injuries at last weekend's intrasquad scrimmage. We'll have to see how and where they affect the starting lineups that should announced this coming Wednesday or Thursday.

Another major unspoken, but still very palpable story right now is that there are higher expectations coming into this season than any time any Columbia fan can really remember.

Note that prior to the great 1996 and 2017 seasons, the expectations were for perhaps winning seasons, but not the more fantastic years they turned out to be.

Despite the 6th place prediction in the Ivy preseason poll, this team and its knowledgeable fans know this is the most optimistic the program has felt going into a year.