2018 IVY LEAGUE FOOTBALL PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
| Place | Team (First Place Votes) | Total Points |
| 1. | Yale (11) | 129 |
| 2. | Princeton (3) | 104 |
| 3. | Harvard (1) | 99 |
| 4. | COLUMBIA (1) | 76 |
| Penn (1) | 76 | |
| 6. | Dartmouth | 65 |
| 7. | Cornell | 37 |
| 8. | Brown | 26 |
The Columbia Athletic Department's write-up has some solid info about how long it's been since the Lions finished this high in the poll and how the team did in the year's leading up to those higher poll finishes.
I'll have my full preview and predictions for the league next week. But my three quick takes on the poll are:
1) I agree with choosing Yale to win the title. At this point, it's the strongest argument.
2) I think the biggest mistake in the poll is placing Dartmouth all the way at 6th place. Like Columbia, the Big Green are really only dealing with the starting QB as the biggest question mark. But also like Columbia, Dartmouth has some very good reasons to be optimistic about answering that need quite well.
3) I get all the excitement about Princeton's returning "Mr. Everything" John Lovett. But too bad Lovett doesn't play defense, because defense is where Princeton crashed hard last year. Some defensive players are coming back from injury, but the Tigers were the best Ivy offense I've ever seen last season and they still finished 2-5 in the league. I wouldn't be shocked if PU came in 2nd or even won the title. But I would be a bit surprised. The bottom line is that Princeton's defense needs too much improvement over last season to pencil them in at 2nd.
Now to my letter, which is predicated on today's release of the coaches round table video by the Ivy League:
Dear Director Harris:
Let's face it, you have a hard job. I say that because while your direct job is managing and accentuating the Ivy League athletics experience, your real job is placating and pleasing the Ivy League university presidents. And those two things can often be very much at odds.
Believe me, I get the extent of that problem. As a TV news producer for 25 years, I've had to juggle the difficult reality of needing to attract viewers but never forgetting that my primary employers are pressured by advertisers who often have much different interests than those viewers.
You have a similar problem in having to juggle the very common differences that arise between what Ivy League sports fans want and what the Ivy League university presidents have on their agenda.
That issue has become unfortunately clear in recent weeks as the annual Ivy League football coaches media day teleconference was canceled in favor of the coaches' round table video the league released today. That video made a compelling case for the league's unique recruiting allure and commitment to safety and that's about it.
Today's video looked very much like the kind of material any given Ivy university president would want to have at his or her disposal to quell the complaints of a few athletics-wary alumni or board members. It clearly was made for them, and I understand why based on who your employers are.
But to actual Ivy League football fans, not only was all of it old news, but it was a poor substitute for the kind of information fans want to know. There was no discussion of any players and stars. There was no discussion of which teams are the top contenders. There was no discussion of what every coach is excited or worried about as the season is about to begin.
You're a very smart woman and I know that you know leaving out that kind of content is poison for a college sports conference trying to generate more fan interest and excitement. I can only conclude that you felt the Ivy presidents are so averse to more football fan-friendly material, that you felt that sacrificing the fans' demands was a smarter career move all around.
I certainly hope that isn't the case, because all the safety and post-graduate alumni job network realities in the world will not keep Ivy League football and Ivy athletics alive for very long without good old fashioned fan support and engagement. I and many alumni and fans have long feared that eliminating football and athletics in general is still an agenda of some Ivy presidents. Today's video actually did nothing to quell those fears.
The good news is that we have seen you implement some more fan-friendly initiatives in the other sports, with the postseason Ivy basketball tournaments being the best example. Again, you are clearly smart enough to know what fans want.
But just as I criticized you five years ago for downplaying the obvious desire among fans, players, and the coaches to have our Ivy football champs play in the FCS playoffs, I think you've fallen victim to a situation where placating the still very obvious anti-football bias in the Ivies is a priority for you and the league presidents.
Here's the better news: now that you've produced this dry video meant for a smaller, non-fan audience, you can still provide the fans with the content we're looking for. I know it's the training camp period and the coaches' time is limited. But having them sit down for 5-10 minutes to answer some basic questions about this coming season is still possible. The coaches don't even need to do this at the same time, as separate interviews work just fine. Please look into making this happen.
Bottom line, as much as the fans would appreciate this, it's the players who really deserve this attention. These young men sacrifice a lot and take on much more responsibility than most of their fellow students could possibly imagine. Don't the best players deserve as much personal recognition as possible? I get that such recognition can sometimes be misconstrued as "hero worship" by some misguided Ivy League academic leaders. Yale's former President Richard Levin was notorious for harboring that misbegotten sentiment. But Levin has retired, and so too should the idea that recognizing students and the competitive athletic nature of football is some how detrimental to the Ivy League academic and cultural experience.
I hope this letter will give you some impetus to right this wrong and implement the easy fix I've recommended above. As always, you can count on the dedicated alumni and fans to support you in this effort.
Best regards,
Jake Novak
Columbia '92
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