The voters included media representatives who regularly cover the eight-team conference.
In 2010, Dartmouth placed seventh in the preseason poll but finished the season in fifth place, an improvement over its previous year's ranking. In 2009, Dartmouth was expected to place last following a 0-10 season in 2008, but finished the season in seventh.
Co-captain Shawn Abuhoff '12 said preseason rankings are not that important to the team, adding that he did not mind coming into the season as an underdog and then defying expectations.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to prove them wrong," he said.
Head coach Buddy Teevens said that while he was happy to see the team's rankings improve, the rankings were not as high as he or the team had hoped. Teevens added that the rankings are rarely accurate and largely based on the previous season.
Linebacker Garrett Wymore '13 said he expects this year's team to fare better than last year's.
"If we ended up finishing fifth, we'd definitely be disappointed," Wymore said. "We'd really only be satisfied with an Ivy League Championship."
The Big Green finished last season with a winning record (6-4) for the first time in 13 years. Abuhoff said that the team could have won an Ivy League title if it had been able to pull out wins in a few close games.
Wymore attributed the team's losses in the 2010-2011 season to relatively small mistakes that had major effects in tight games. During Spring term, the team focused on eliminating small errors, which Wymore said he hopes will lead the Big Green to winning the Ivy League Championship this year.
Teevens said the team is coming back more mature this season, which he hopes will contribute to the success of the team.
"The big thing will be execution and the cohesion of the team," he said. "We have a close team. We're bringing a lot of people back."
He added that players will not be able to make mistakes without someone taking their place.
Wymore said he believes that the team has the talent and personnel to beat every team in the League, as long it retains its focus until the end of each game.
"Every game is going to come down to preparing better for the other team than they've prepared for us," Wymore said. "We really need to keep our composure throughout the game."
Although a few important players graduated in 2011, Abuhoff said he is confident in the ability of the underclassmen to fill those players' shoes.
"We know that we have enough guys that have played more games, more snaps, than anyone else in the League," he said. "We know development-wise that we're where we need to be."
No Ivy League teams lost their quarterbacks this year, Abuhoff said, adding that Dartmouth did not lose as much as the other teams because of the strength and experience of its underclassmen.
Teevens said the Ivy League is becoming more balanced and that he expects the season to be close. He added that he has observed that many Dartmouth players have "phenomenal" attitudes and are anxious to come back and work hard.
"There's a high level of competitiveness on the team and that will make us play at a much higher level," Teevens said.
Abuhoff said the most important key to success this year will be coming into the season with confidence.
The team has the benefit of a relatively short travel season this year and many of the major games are either at home or nearby, according to Teevens.
Pre-season training will begin on Aug. 23. Following training, Dartmouth will kick off its new season at home on Sept. 17 against Colgate Unviersity. The team's first Ivy League game will be a night game at home against pre-season favorite Penn on Oct. 1.
