SME'S Picks

The SME Network is out with its predictions for the Ivy League race this season.


Here's how they saw it:


1 – Yale
2 – Harvard
3 – Princeton
4 – Brown
5 – Penn
6 – Dartmouth
7 – Cornell
8 – Columbia


They think the race will again come down to the Harvard-Yale game, this time going to the Elis in a reversal of last year's result. That's a solid prediction for the most part.

Of course they pick Columbia last, (everyone else will too, let's not take it personally), but there are some surprises in the rest of their draw.

They seem to really like Princeton to improve, which runs contrary to just about everyone else's take on the Tigers who will be starting a new QB and still don't seem to have much of a running game. I'm not on board with them on this, although I am still a converted fan of Princeton coach Roger Hughes.

They make Brown an outside short contender, which makes sense, but push Penn all the way down to 5th. There's plenty of evidence to support those choices, but seeing Penn picked 5th is just jarring. One could argue that coach Al Bagnoli's team has gone from being hit with bad luck to simply being shorthanded on talent at the key skill positions.

Of course this comes from a person who picked Yale to win the title last year and thought the actual 2007 champion Harvard would finish 5th!


Game of the Day (Day 59)

November 19, 1994

Brown 59 Columbia 27


After Des Werthman's incredible heroics at the end of the 1992 season, Columbia's next big significant win came in 1994 when the Lions clinched their first winning season in 23 years with a thrilling 38-33 win over Cornell.

A week later, the Lions faced the equally resurgent 6-3 Brown Bears at Baker Field in what seemed like it would be another even matchup. It would end up becoming one of the most disappointing losses in Columbia history.

The Lions looked very strong early. After intercepting a Brown pass in the end zone, Columbia went on an 80-yard drive that ended with Marcellus Wiley pushing his way in for a 4-yard TD run.

The Lions scored three more times in the half. First on a 19-yard run by Justin Fossbender, then on an 8-yard pass from quarterback Jamie Schwalbe to tight end Brian Bassett and finally a 27-yard field goal by Joe Aldrich.

Columbia's first half success hinged on the fact that the Lions did not make even on turnover.

A nice drive ending in short Aldrich field goal made it 27-3 midway through the third quarter and I distinctly remember seeing fans high-fiving each other in the stands and talking about an Ivy title in '95.

Then came Hurricane Turnover. Aided by seven Columbia turnovers, Brown would score eight unanswered touchdowns to turn a 24-point deficit into a 32 point lead. The 56 point turnaround making it the biggest turnaround ever seen in Ivy football history.

Describing each of Brown's eight TD's, only one of which came on a drive, is just too tedious. But one sequence was particularly painful:

Schwalbe had a pass deflected, intercepted, and returned for a 34-yard TD. Columbia fumbled the ensuing kickoff and two plays later Brown's sophomore QB James McCullough completed a 25-yard TD pass. That took the air out of Columbia's tires pretty quickly.

Columbia managed to avoid the effects of the bad memories of that game by starting the 1995 season on a strong note. But no one who saw that 1994 finale will ever forget it no matter how much they want to.