After the British surrendered to American revolutionary forces at the Battle of Yorktown, the British army marching band played "The World Turned Upside Down" to commemorate the occasion. Two hundred and seventeen years later, marching bands throughout the Ivy League are practicing the same tune after looking at this year's Ivy League football standings. Perennial cellar-dwellars Columbia and Yale are on the top looking down, while recent front-runners Harvard, Dartmouth and Brown find themselves occupying the bottom three rungs of the standings.
As the Big Green prepare for the remainder of their Ivy League schedule, it is almost impossible to determine the road to the championship. The fact of the matter remains that despite their 1-3 start this year, Dartmouth still is in excellent position to be a contender for their second Ivy League title in three seasons.
"With Brown having two losses and Harvard already having a loss, I think it is very unlikely that you will see a team go through the Ivy League undefeated this year," Big Green head coach John Lyons said. "That's encouraging to our guys because we know that if we go out and play good football, we can be competitive."
Right now, the clear favorites to take home the hardware at the end of the season are the four undefeated teamsPrinceton, Pennsylvania, Columbia and Yale. Of those teams, Princeton sits in the best position, being the only team to start 2-0, while the other three squads enter play this weekend 1-0 in Ancient Eight play.
"Right now, you would have to think that Princeton has the best chance for success, given that they are 2-0 already," Lyons said of the Tigers, who opened the season with victories over Cornell and Brown.
Lyons' analysis aside, the Tigers have history on their side as well. The last five times Princeton has began the Ivy League season 2-0, the Tigers have either won the title or played for a share of the championship. The only chink in the Tigers' armor so far is that both of their wins have come at home, meaning they have yet to prove themselves on the road.
The undefeated group contains some early surprises. Columbia and Yale were picked to finish seventh and eighth respectively, while Penn and Princeton were picked for fourth and fifth place.
Columbia earned their only victory with perhaps the upset of the year in the Ivy League, drubbing Harvard 24-0 in the opening week. Yale marched to the head of the class with a last-play victory over Brown in Providence. The early success of both teams will be tested this weekend when the Lions travel to Penn and Yale comes to Hanover to take on the Big Green. Two years ago, Yale came to Hanover undefeated for Homecoming and lost to Dartmouth, 40-6.
Harvard and Brown, the victims of Columbia and Yale, have been the most disappointing teams so far this season. Picked to come in first and second respectively, the two teams have already lost a combined three times. Brown is tied with Cornell for last place with an 0-2 mark, while Harvard posted their first win last week over the Big Red.
"I'm not sure what happened with Harvard at the beginning of the year, but if they sort things out, they will be a team to reckon with throughout the year," Lyons said. "However, its very hard to imagine Brown competing for the title with two losses."
One important stat that sticks out is only Penn holds a winning record overall. The Quakers are 3-1, with Columbia, Princeton and Yale all sitting with 2-2 records. Brown, Darmouth and Harvard are all 1-3 on the season.
"Most of the game at this point in the season have been out of league and its hard to evaluate where every team is at," Lyons said. "Those teams that have played the best possible opponents in the first few weeks will be better off down the road."
