College football’s history and tradition owes much to the Ivy League. A league known for dominant national powers has since been left behind in terms of competition on the football field, but few leagues carry the kind of rich tradition the Ivy League still has. On Saturday afternoon one of college football’s best rivalries will play out for the 130th time in the history of the game when Harvard and Yale play The Game.
Harvard is going for their seventh straight victory in the rivalry. The Crimson have won 11 of the last 12 against Yale as the two football programs have gone separate ways since the turn of the decade. The Game bring a sense of good-natured rivalry that the bigger programs and fans may have lost a bit of over the course of time. Each year’s meeting is ushered in with a fun prank or two at the other school’s expense. Sometimes MIT even likes to get involved in the fun.
Yale may own the overall series edge against Harvard, but the Crimson are going for their seventh straight win against their Ivy League rivals Saturday afternoon (12 p.m. eastern on NBC Sports Network). The Ivy League title may not be on the line (Princeton) but a year’s worth of bragging rights between these Ivy League schools may really mean more to the fans and alums of the prestigious universities.
Of course, even with a win Harvard will see their season come to an end Saturday afternoon even with a record of 9-1. The Ivy League does not send their football teams to the playoffs. The FCS playoff field will be announced on Sunday, but Harvard and Princeton will once again be on the outside forever looking in due to the Ivy League’s ridiculous rules regarding postseason competition. The FCS playoffs generally take place over the final terms of Ivy League programs, but how many schools do not have the same problem?
Perhaps some day the Ivy League will have a change of heart on this postseason rule. After all, every other sport is eligible to participate in the postseason, so why isn’t football?
I, for one, would love to see how an Ivy League school would do in the FCS playoffs.