I haven’t had a chance to comment on the Ivy League
preseason media poll that came out two weeks ago.
For those of you who missed it or forgot, the poll came out
this way:
2015 IVY LEAGUE
FOOTBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
First-Place Votes in Parentheses
PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
First-Place Votes in Parentheses
|
Rank
|
School
|
Points
|
|
1.
|
Harvard (11)
|
130
|
|
2.
|
Dartmouth (4)
|
116
|
|
3.
|
Yale (1)
|
98
|
|
4.
|
Princeton
|
82
|
|
5.
|
Brown (1)
|
80
|
|
6.
|
Penn
|
51
|
|
7.
|
Columbia
|
29
|
|
8.
|
Cornell
|
26
|
I don’t want to spend too much time going on about a poll
that means almost nothing and will mean even less when the season starts.
So I thought I’d just write 1-2 sentences on whether I think each
team is overrated, underrated, or accurately rated.
That’s about all the time a poll really deserves.
Harvard
Rated right. I think you have to favor the Crimson to win
the title again based on the offense alone. It also doesn’t hurt that Harvard
plays its toughest Ivy opponent this year at home.
Dartmouth
Rated right. The Big Green have a great shot to win the
title and I think they have the best overall player in the Ivies. But that road
game at Harvard gives me a lot of pause.
Yale
Overrated. I will write a longer piece explaining this later
on, but you just don’t replace a player like Tyler Varga in the Ivies.
Princeton
Overrated. I’m still not convinced Bob Surace can field a
truly contending team without Caraun Reid.
Brown
Underrated. How the heck this team went 5-5 last year with
all the rookie players is a question that can only be answered by the fact that
Phil Estes is the head coach. Last I checked, Estes was still there and his
players aren’t all rookies this year.
Penn
Underrated. Ray Priore has probably the best motivation to
succeed in year one than any coach in Ivy history. And the two transfers he
picked up this off season could make a huge impact.
Columbia
Rated right. No one is going to give a team on an 0-21
losing streak a vote to go higher than seventh. As it is, not voting the Lions
last is actually a big sign of respect for Al Bagnoli.
Cornell
Rated right. The Big Red’s hard fall the last few years hasn’t
gotten enough attention because everyone’s been focused on the worse problems at
Columbia. I see no real reason to believe a big improvement is near.
My more complete Ivy League preview for the 2015 season is
coming in September.
8 comments:
seems about right
Agree with Jake. Cornell is our best league shot, with Penn #2, given the recent history. G'town is maybe another. Imagine if we pull out 3 wins! (I'm hoping for more)
I think Jake is as positive as any of us about all the changes, but he is not succumbing to over-exuberance. The 5-5 prognosticators (God bless your souls) will be disappointed by Thanksgiving. But the rest of us are likely to be to one degree or another encouraged, with a couple of Ivy wins and a clear improvement in competitiveness. Let's aim to finish higher than the preseason ranking That would be "a win" for the program in my view
On another topic, I read some of the Novak-Aliwicius vitriol. What gives? I am a total outsider to this. Someone clue me in. Feels to me we should bury the hatchet and/or give amnesty. Probably we all want the same outcome: a winning program....right? One thing I do agree with on this blog is why doesn't everyone identify themselves? I'd love to know names and classes.
Chen, thanks for your input on the "vitriol' between Jake and me. Just a misunderstanding. If Jake will concur I believe the hatchet has already been buried, see my post to the top article today. Roar Lions!
I'm done. Let's hope the coming season will definitively prove that we could have being doing better all along and that all the best decisions should have been made much sooner.
If Bags and his coaches and his track record and all these new recruits goes 0-20, then I will abandon all hope and just follow basketball. At that point I will be 57 and medically and emotionally unequipped to carry on
But I just don't think that's gonna happen!
Jake, what's the point of holding on to bitterness about how long it took. The past was necessary to bring about a great future. By the way, I'm guessing the new force out of the backfield is Jackson Conway, who at 235 lbs. would fit your description as hard to tackle by Ivy League defenders. Can you say if I'm right, and if so whether he's slated for tailback or fullback?
I know Estes is one of the best but Brown is known to hit rough patches. This looks like one of those stretches. I just don't see them as a contender this season. Yale is a wildcard. Losing Varga of course, the lack of a credible D points south. They do have good RBs regardless and a solid QB as well as size up front. My theory is based on a dislike for Tony Reno so I wish for them to fail.
Penn is awful. They should end up dead last in the conference if not for Cornell's dreadful D. Princeton has outstanding athleticism and team speed, should be enough to outscore many opponents.
I'm still seeing 5-5 for CU.
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