Penn, Harvard Once Again Atop Preseason Football Poll

According to members of the Ivy League media, the Harvard football team will finish the upcoming season in the same spot it ended 2012: second place.

Although the Crimson received five first-place votes in the annual media poll released Tuesday, its 121 points were not enough to push it over top-ranked Penn. The defending Ancient Eight champs amassed eight more points than Harvard.

“Regardless of where they are, [the Quakers] find a way to be extremely tough, extremely physical, and extremely competitive,” Harvard coach Tim Murphy said. “They’re coming off a tremendous run with a great senior class last year and another great senior class this year. To pick them first, I think that makes a lot of sense.”

It’s not just Harvard and Penn that were predicted to repeat their 2012 performances – the ranking of the top six teams in the preseason poll were identical to the end-of-season standings last year. According to the poll, Brown will finish in third, though it did receive one first-place vote. Following the Bears are Dartmouth and Princeton, with Cornell slotted behind them in sixth.

The only change is a reversal in the bottom two slots of the conference, where Yale is predicted to finish seventh followed by Columbia in the bottom spot.

Harvard finished with an 8-2 record last season and went 5-2 against Ivy League opponents. The de facto conference championship came against Penn in the penultimate game of the season, when the Quakers outlasted the Crimson to seize a 30-21 victory. Harvard’s other defeat came at Princeton when the Tigers shocked their opponents by scoring 29 points in the final 12 minutes at play.

The Crimson will face off against Penn on Nov. 16. A week later, Harvard will end its season in New Haven with the 130th playing of The Game. Nonconference matchups include a trip west to take on San Diego in the first game of the year, a contest with Holy Cross, and a home game against Lafayette.

—Staff writer David Steinbach can be reached at dsteinbach@college.harvard.edu.