PRINCETON, N.J. – Ivy League football action begins this Saturday as Cornell travels to Yale for a noon kickoff in New Haven, while Brown and Harvard meet under the lights at 6 p.m. in Cambridge.
Saturday’s schedule also features four non-conference matchups, including road tests against two 2024 FCS Playoff participants: Dartmouth at Central Connecticut State and Penn at No. 9 Lehigh.
QUICK HITS
- Half of the Ivy League teams received votes in the latest AFCA Coaches Poll – Dartmouth (31), Harvard (16), Yale (13), and Brown (2).
- The league posted a 5–3 record on opening weekend and has achieved a winning record in Week 1 in 14 of the last 15 years (76–44, .633 since 2010).
- Brown (+46), Harvard (+52) and Yale (+18) posted double-digit wins. The Bears shut out Georgetown 46-0. The Hoyas entered the matchup as the seventh ranked scoring offense in the nation averaging 39.7 points per game.
- Ivies went 16–8 outside the league last season, the 12th time in 14 years they’ve finished .500 or better. Since 2017, Ivies are 124–52 (.705) in non-league play.
- Dartmouth provided the league’s first ranked victory of the year with a 27–20 win over No. 23 New Hampshire.
- Each of the past two seasons have ended with three Ivy League champions—something that has happened just six times overall (1966, 1969, 1982, 2015, 2023, 2024). Over the last eight years, six different programs have claimed at least one Ivy title.
- Six Ivy players were named to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1000: Dartmouth TE Chris Corbo, Harvard DB Ty Bartrum, Harvard QB Jaden Craig, Penn OL Netinho Olivieri, Penn WR Jared Richardson, and Yale RB Josh Pitsenberger. The league's six selections were the third-most among FCS conferences.
- Three Ivies were featured in FCS Football Central’s Preseason Top 10 FCS Prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft: Corbo (No. 5), Richardson (No. 9) and Craig (No. 10).
- Craig was also one of five FCS prospects – and the only FCS quarterback – named to the Panini Senior Bowl Top 300.
- The Ivy League will begin competing in the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs this season. The decision was approved by the Ivy League Council of Presidents in December 2024, following a proposal from the league’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
- Twenty-two former Ivy League standouts are currently on NFL rosters, with all eight schools represented.
- Three of the league’s head coaches were Ivy League football players: Brown’s James Perry (Brown, 1996-99), Harvard’s Andrew Aurich (Princeton, 2002-05) and Princeton’s Bob Surace (Princeton, 1987-89).