Dartmouth Tabbed for Sixth in Preseason Ivy League Media Poll

HANOVER, N.H. — The Ivy League revealed the results of its football preseason media poll today with Dartmouth expected to finish where it did a year ago in sixth place. The defending champion, Yale, took the top spot with 13 of the 16 first-place votes and garnered 122 points, while Princeton came in second with 103 points and one first-place vote.

Harvard and Columbia each received one vote to win the conference crown, but it was Penn who claimed third in the poll with 90 points. The Crimson (84) and Lions (62) took fourth and fifth respectively, with the Big Green (54), Cornell (37) and Brown (24) rounding out the poll.

Perpetually underrated, Dartmouth has finished the season higher in the standings than it was picked in the preseason poll in 11 of the last 13 campaigns, most notably 2015, '19 and '21 when they shared the conference crown. The Big Green have a total of 20 Ivy League titles to its credit, more than any other Ancient Eight team.

Dartmouth will be led by interim head coach Sammy McCorkle, filling in for Buddy Teevens, the Robert L. Blackman Head Football Coach, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident in March. McCorkle has spent the past 18 years on Teevens' staff, nine as the associate head coach, and with a coaching staff that averages more than eight years with the program, the Big Green have a veteran crew it can rely upon to guide them through the season.

Dartmouth returns seven of its starters on offense, including fifth-year quarterback Nick Howard — back as a team captain again — who has run for 24 touchdowns over the past two seasons. And with four of the five starters on the offensive line returning, the Big Green will have the experience to open holes for him to run as well as others such as junior Q Jones and senior captain Tevita Moimoi. That line will also be able to provide a stout front for pass protection to get the ball to the receiving corps, led by senior Paxton Scott, who has topped Dartmouth in receptions and receiving yardage each of the past two years.

Although the defense has only four starters from 2022 returning to the fold, one is fifth-year safety Quinten Arello, another captain from last season. But that group does not include one of the Big Green's top pass rushers from 2021 in fifth-year linebacker Marques White, who missed all but two games a year ago. And with senior linebacker Macklin Ayers, the Ivy League leader in tackles per game and the third of four team captains, Dartmouth expects to continue its stout defensive efforts that led to ranking 13th nationally in fewest points allowed (20.5) last season.

The Big Green open the 2023 season on Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Granite Bowl against the New Hampshire Wildcats in Durham. A video stream of the game will be available on FloSports (subscription required), and fans can opt for a free audio broadcast featuring Brett Franklin and Matt Corsetti on the call through the official website of Dartmouth Athletics, DartmouthSports.com.

2023 Ivy League Football Preseason Media Poll
Place	Team (first-place votes)	Points
1.	Yale (13)	122
2.	Princeton (1)	103
3.	Penn	90
4.	Harvard (1)	84
5.	Columbia (1)	62
6.	Dartmouth	54
7.	Cornell	37
8.	Brown	24

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