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Bring On The Sooners

Before anyone says anything, please keep in mind that this is tongue-in-cheek. We do not want to see Penn play Oklahoma. We are just playing with the transitive theory (A beats B, B beats C, A would beat C).

Penn beat Columbia, which beat Harvard, which beat Northeastern, which beat Delaware, which beat Navy, which beat Air Force...

And Then....
...Air Force beat Nortwestern, which beat Wisconsin, which beat Ohio State.
...Air Force beat BYU, which beat San Diego State, which beat Wyoming, which beat Colorado State, which beat California, which beat Southern Cal.
...Air Force beat Nortwestern, which beat Duke, which beat Georgia Tech, which beat Wake Forest, which beat Clemson, which beat Florida State, which beat Notre Dame, which beat Pitt, which beat Virginia Tech, which beat Miami, which beat Florida, which beat LSU.

Ohio State, Southern Cal and LSU are the remaining once-beaten Division I-A teams.

First Games By Division I Teams (vs American Colleges)

Nov 6, 1869 -- Princeton (lost to Rutgers)
Nov 6, 1869 -- Rutgers (beat Princeton)
Nov 5, 1870 -- Columbia (lost to Rutgers)
Nov 16, 1872 -- Yale (beat Columbia)
June 4 1875 -- Harvard (lost to Tufts)
Nov 1, 1876 -- Penn (lost to Princeton)
Oct 26, 1878 -- Brown (beat Amherst)
Nov 22, 1879 -- Massachusetts (beat Amherst)
Oct 31, 1881 -- Michigan (lost to Harvard)
Nov 12, 1881 -- Dartmouth (beat Amherst)
Nov 12, 1881 -- Bucknell (lost to Penn State)
Nov 12, 1881 -- Penn State (beat Bucknell)
Nov 12, 1881 -- Kentucky (beat Transylvania)
Dec 3, 1881 -- Richmond (beat Randolph-Macon)

Note: Ivy New Kid on the Block Cornell started playing football in 1887.

The Ivy League On YES Network

The YES Network (Yankees Entertainment & Sports LLC) announced a two-year agreement with the Ivy League for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons to produce and televise five football games and six basketball games (including at least one women's game) each year, with a YES option for 2005-06 as well. Each Ivy football and men's basketball team will have at least one appearance in each season.

"We thank the YES Network for its commitment to the Ivy League," said Ivy Executive Director Jeff Orleans. "This package gives us the long-term, consistent ability to showcase our teams and our students across the entire league, with availability across the country. YES shares our goal of bringing high-quality Ivy sports to our viewers while also sharing the academic and other stories that go beyond the playing fields."

The five Ivy League football games airing on YES in 2003 include Princeton at Brown (Oct. 18), Dartmouth at Harvard (Nov. 1), Harvard at Columbia (Nov. 8), Yale at Princeton (Nov. 15) and Cornell at Penn (Nov. 22). The specific Ivy League basketball games airing on YES will be announced at a later date.

The YES Network is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week premier sports and entertainment television network featuring the 26-time World Champion New York Yankees Major League Baseball team and the Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Nets, as well as other professional and collegiate sports teams and a wide variety of features (www.yesnetwork.com). The YES Network is available to viewers in New York, Connecticut, and large parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The YES Network is also available to DIRECTV subscribers who have the "SPORTS Pack," one of the provider's premium services. The YES Network airs on DIRECTV's channel 622.

Going For The Deuce

Three Ivy League running backs carried for more than 200 yards on Saturday, the first single-day trio in Ivy League history ... Princeton's Jon Veach gained 205 yards in the Tigers' 43-40 overtime loss at Harvard; Penn's Sam Mathews went for 204 in a 34-31 overtime win over Yale; and Brown's Nick Hartigan went for 201 in the Bears' 21-7 win at Cornell ... Only twice in Ivy history had two backs eclipsed 200 rushing yards on the same day ... Dartmouth's Tom Spangenberg (208 at Princeton) and Cornell's Gary Wood (207 at Penn) each did it on Nov. 24, 1962 ... Columbia's Johnathan Reese (236 vs Dartmouth) and Brown's Michael Malan (234 vs Cornell) -- former high school teammates -- did it on Oct. 21, 2000 ... The Ivy League, now known for its aerial antics, has had 10 different players rush for 200 yards in a game in the last four seasons ... That is the most in a four-year run in League history ... Those 10 have done it 14 times, which matches the most in a four-year span (1990-93) ... But Princeton's Keith Elias had half of those in that run ... Also, five 200-yard games this year matches the most in League history with 1971 and 2000 ... Cornell's Ed Marinaro had all five in 1971 ...

200-Yard Games Since 2000
201 -- Rashad Bartholomew (Yale -vs- Dayton, Sept. 16, 2000) 42-6 home win
201 -- Johnathan Reese (Columbia -vs- Lafayette, Oct. 7, 2000) 47-22 home win
236 -- Johnathan Reese (Columbia -vs- Dartmouth, Oct. 21, 2000) 49-21 home win
234 -- Michael Malan (Brown -vs- Cornell, Oct. 21, 2000) 56-40 home win
243 -- Kris Ryan (Penn at Cornell, Nov. 18, 2000) 45-15 road win
208 -- Michael Malan (Brown -vs- Princeton, Oct. 13, 2001) 35-24 home win
267 -- Michael Malan (Brown -vs- Fordham, Oct. 6, 2001) 40-23 home win
235 -- Robert Carr (Yale at Cornell, Sept. 28, 2002) 50-23 road win
219 -- Robert Carr (Yale -vs- Holy Cross, Pct. 5, 2002) 28-19 home win
233 -- Cameron Atkinson (Princeton -vs- Dartmouth, Nov. 23, 2002) 38-30 home win
214 -- Nick Haritgan (Brown -vs- Fordham, Oct. 11, 2003) 24-21 home loss
218 -- Clifton Dawson (Harvard -vs- Lafayette, Oct. 18, 2003) 34-27 home win
205 -- Jon Veach (Princeton at Harvard, Oct. 25, 2003) 43-40 road OT loss
204 -- Sam Mathews (Penn -vs- Yale, Oct. 25, 2003) 34-31 home OT win
201 -- Nick Hartigan (Brown at Cornell, Oct. 25, 2003) 21-7 road win

Ivies In The NFL

The NFL has 13 Ivy Leaguers are on active NFL rosters, including at least one player from each of the eight schools. San Diego Charger Marcellus Wiley, a two-time All-Pro, is now the leader of the team with the departure of Junior Seau while Minnesota's offensive line is anchored by former Pro Bowl center Matt Birk.

The New York Giants have an interesting distinction, carrying three Ivy Leaguers into the season with Jason Garrett, Jim Finn and Jeff Hatch. The last NFL team with three Ivy Leaguers was the 1980 Cincinnati Bengals (Dick Jauron, Pat McInally and Reggie Williams).

The 13 Leaguers on NFL rosters:
Matt Birk -- Minnesota Vikings (Harvard, C, 6-4, 308)
Jay Fiedler -- Miami Dolphins (Dartmouth, QB, 6-2, 225)
Jim Finn -- New York Giants (Penn, FB, 6-0, 242)
Jason Garrett -- New York Giants (Princeton, QB, 6-2, 200)
Jeff Hatch -- New York Giants (Penn, OT, 6-6, 302)
Chris Hetherington -- Oakland Raiders (Yale, RB, 6-3, 250)
Eric Johnson -- San Francisco 49ers (Yale, TE, 6-3, 256)
Isaiah Kacyvenski -- Seattle Seahawks (Harvard, ILB, 6-1, 252)
Sean Morey -- Philadelphia Eagles (Brown, WR, 5-11, 200)
Dennis Norman -- Seattle Seahawks (Princeton, C, 6-5, 312)
Seth Payne -- Houston Texans (Cornell, DT, 6-4, 303)
Ross Tucker -- Buffalo Bills (Princeton, OG, 6-4, 316)
Marcellus Wiley -- San Diego Chargers (Columbia, DE, 6-4, 275)