Monday's thoughts -- <h1>IVY LEAGUE SPORTS BOARD</h1>

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Subject: Monday's thoughts

Author:
Grin and Bear it

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Date Posted: 13:04:46 11/17/25 Mon

While shaving this morning I had the following thoughts:

1. Penn lost, but they put up a great effort and showed that Harvard is beatable.

2. Harvard's defense, which has played so well at times, was sleep walking on Saturday.

3. I got the opinion that H was looking past Penn to Yale and did not bring their "A" game. Can't do that in the ivy league. The teams are too evenly matched.

4. I still think H will beat Y on Saturday because H is stronger at QB.

5. Dartmouth continues to impress me. They do not have the cache of the big three and their wilderness setting must be a turn off for some recruits, but year in and year out they are a factor. Watching the highlights of their game against Cornell, I was really impressed by their soundness. The D player who stripped the ball from the C receiver was pure textbook. Those are the kind of plays that lead to wins and D has their fair share of them. Good for Dartmouth.

6. Dartmouth will be playing Brown on Saturday. A mismatch? Probably, but Brown does have some excellent players. Their problem is twofold: 1. coaching, they are not nearly as sound as Dartmouth and 2. Dartmouth is just the kind of team that is a nightmare for Brown, i.e. D can run the ball very effectively, and they have a stout defense.

7. Brown seldom blitzes. Not sure why, because all of the other teams blitz. It is fundamental football. But then again, Brown doesn't excel at fundamental football and hasn't had a winning season in a dozen years. As I have long suspected, coaching is a big issue.

8. Congratulations to the Brown women's hockey team. They beat both Dartmouth and Harvard over the weekend. It was Brown's seventh win in a row over Harvard. The last time they were this successful against H goes back to the early 1990's when they were the premier team in the league. However, as the 2000's approached they fell victim to neglect and general apathy as other schools built their programs.

9. It will be interesting to see how the Princeton men's soccer team does in the tournament. They are the best team the ivy league has produced in decades, but soccer is a very fickle game. Many superior teams lose to inferior opponents simply due to the bounce of the ball. It is not uncommon to see a team take 20 shots to 1 for the opponent and still lose the game. Truly a game of inches. Good luck to both Cornell and Princeton in the tournament.

10. That is it for now.

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[> Subject: Re: Monday's thoughts

Author:
John Harvard (You missed something)
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Date Posted: 15:59:06 11/17/25 Mon

Dartmouth's men's hockey team has started its season 6-0 and is ranked 13th in today's updated poll. This includes a victory over #19 Cornell.

The NPI (National Percentage Index) has Dartmouth as #1 on the strength of being the only remaining undefeated team. Harvard (unranked but receiving votes) has defeated Northeastern (#12 in the poll), lost to Cornell (#19), and tied UConn (#11).

As your Harvard football observations, I start with Harvard looking underwhelming against Columbia and then Penn. Penn scored 43 points on Saturday, whereas Harvard had only allowed 93 points in the previous 8 games, with much of those scored in garbage time (Holy Cross & Columbia). The Crimson defense is going to have to pick it up to beat Yale and get anywhere in the postseason.