This is a legitimate question. This year the conference got rid of tackling in practice: https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/no...e-football
The Ivy League tends to be very liberal and is located in New England, where college football isn't seen as a big deal. As it is, the 8 schools only play 10 games a year in the FCS and are not eligible for the FCS playoffs, via their own decision. With the concerns of CTE on the horizon and a culture of pro football over college football, could you see the Ivy League canning football in the next decade?

I could probably see them only playing "The Game" (Harvard vs Yale).

(02-01-2017 10:27 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  I could probably see them only playing "The Game" (Harvard vs Yale).

Yes, but would Yale and Harvard go independent in football to keep that thing going. I don't know.

I think we are going to see an advancement in helmets to provide a cushion on the outside of the plastic to lessen blows before we see the sport dropped like this.

(02-01-2017 10:29 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  

(02-01-2017 10:27 PM)MWC Tex Wrote:  I could probably see them only playing "The Game" (Harvard vs Yale).

Yes, but would Yale and Harvard go independent in football to keep that thing going. I don't know.

No need for Indy. They'll just go old school and play only 1 game for the season. Besides, it's the only one that matters.

You really won't see much of a difference in Ivy League athletes if they go to club football. No need to keep D-I football.

(02-01-2017 10:17 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  This is a legitimate question. This year the conference got rid of tackling in practice: https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/no...e-football
The Ivy League tends to be very liberal and is located in New England, where college football isn't seen as a big deal. As it is, the 8 schools only play 10 games a year in the FCS and are not eligible for the FCS playoffs, via their own decision. With the concerns of CTE on the horizon and a culture of pro football over college football, could you see the Ivy League canning football in the next decade?

(02-01-2017 10:47 PM)p23570 Wrote:  I think we are going to see an advancement in helmets to provide a cushion on the outside of the plastic to lessen blows before we see the sport dropped like this.

That's what should happen. Or get rid of the hard shell altogether. You'd think someone at one of the Ivy's could figure this out.

(02-01-2017 10:17 PM)shizzle787 Wrote:  This is a legitimate question. This year the conference got rid of tackling in practice: https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/no...e-football
The Ivy League tends to be very liberal and is located in New England, where college football isn't seen as a big deal. As it is, the 8 schools only play 10 games a year in the FCS and are not eligible for the FCS playoffs, via their own decision. With the concerns of CTE on the horizon and a culture of pro football over college football, could you see the Ivy League canning football in the next decade?

No way football ever leaves the Ivy. It's a huge deal at those schools. And recently the Ivy has been getting some of the best recruits in the FCS. If anything I see Ivy League football getting more popular. They have a lot of games on TV now too.

(02-01-2017 11:24 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  You really won't see much of a difference in Ivy League athletes if they go to club football. No need to keep D-I football.

Completely disagree. The Ivy has been pulling in some of the best recruiting classes in the FCS.

Take this year for example.

FCS Recruiting Class Rankings:
Harvard: 2
Yale: 3
Penn: 6
Columbia: 14
Princeton: 19
Brown: 32
Cornell: 44
Dartmouth: 45

I don't think they'll get rid of football but it doesn't necessarily need to be played at a D-I or even an NCAA level.

Many of the dangers of football today, I don't believe are present at FCS or lower levels of football. This isn't to say it is not dangerous at all, but it does miss some of the elements that make football so much more violent today than in years past, which are the "bigger, faster" athletes of today in the NFL and FBS football. Combine that with the newer safety rules, and I think FCS football will survive and thrive.

(02-02-2017 08:52 AM)EmeryZach Wrote:  

(02-01-2017 11:24 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  You really won't see much of a difference in Ivy League athletes if they go to club football. No need to keep D-I football.

Completely disagree. The Ivy has been pulling in some of the best recruiting classes in the FCS.

Take this year for example.

FCS Recruiting Class Rankings:
Harvard: 2
Yale: 3
Penn: 6
Columbia: 14
Princeton: 19
Brown: 32
Cornell: 44
Dartmouth: 45

How can they really tell how good they are if they don't play in the FCS playoff?

(02-02-2017 09:00 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  I don't think they'll get rid of football but it doesn't necessarily need to be played at a D-I or even an NCAA level.

Come on, now. This is such a hyperbolic thread. The Ivy League is too important from a perception standpoint for the NCAA - they are the epitome of academia.

Plus, as others have noted, Ivy League recruiting is near the tops of FCS despite not having athletic scholarships or participating in the FCS playoff. This makes perfect sense to me because if a kid is an FCS-level talent (meaning that he's probably isn't realistically looking at the NFL) and an Ivy League school admits him, then there aren't many kids that turn that down. In that respect, FCS players' school choices aren't that different from the school choices of the general non-athlete population. If someone gets admitted to Harvard in any capacity (whether athlete or non-athlete), then VERY FEW people turn Harvard down anywhere even without a scholarship. Harvard has an insanely high yield rate for admissions and so do the other Ivy League schools. If you look at everywhere across affluent suburban America and how parents will move heaven and earth to get their kids into an Ivy League school, it makes all of the sense in the world that the Ivy League has a very strong recruiting advantage at the FCS level. Most FCS players don't have NFL dreams/delusions, so they truly need to take into consideration the quality of their education and how it applies to the real world, and it doesn't get any better than going to an Ivy League school on that front. Who gives a crap about FCS playoff access when you've won the playoff of LIFE if you have an Ivy League degree.

(02-02-2017 11:49 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(02-02-2017 08:52 AM)EmeryZach Wrote:  

(02-01-2017 11:24 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  You really won't see much of a difference in Ivy League athletes if they go to club football. No need to keep D-I football.

Completely disagree. The Ivy has been pulling in some of the best recruiting classes in the FCS.

Take this year for example.

FCS Recruiting Class Rankings:
Harvard: 2
Yale: 3
Penn: 6
Columbia: 14
Princeton: 19
Brown: 32
Cornell: 44
Dartmouth: 45

How can they really tell how good they are if they don't play in the FCS playoff?

The recruiting class rankings are based off the 247Sports Composite ratings, which take into account all the major recruiting websites.

While I don't believe the Ivy League would ever get rid of football, if 2-4 schools remained (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Cornell?), I would bet they'd pipe money into their programs and be picked up by the B1G - even for football-only.

(02-02-2017 01:42 PM)EmeryZach Wrote:  

(02-02-2017 11:49 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(02-02-2017 08:52 AM)EmeryZach Wrote:  

(02-01-2017 11:24 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  You really won't see much of a difference in Ivy League athletes if they go to club football. No need to keep D-I football.

Completely disagree. The Ivy has been pulling in some of the best recruiting classes in the FCS.

Take this year for example.

FCS Recruiting Class Rankings:
Harvard: 2
Yale: 3
Penn: 6
Columbia: 14
Princeton: 19
Brown: 32
Cornell: 44
Dartmouth: 45

How can they really tell how good they are if they don't play in the FCS playoff?

The recruiting class rankings are based off the 247Sports Composite ratings, which take into account all the major recruiting websites.

As we know recruiting rankings don't mean squat on the field though. I would assume more players would be drafted by the NFL if that correlated to anything. As we know, more conferences in other FCS leagues get more players drafted in the NFL than Ivy League.

(02-02-2017 01:42 PM)EmeryZach Wrote:  

(02-02-2017 11:49 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(02-02-2017 08:52 AM)EmeryZach Wrote:  

(02-01-2017 11:24 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  You really won't see much of a difference in Ivy League athletes if they go to club football. No need to keep D-I football.

Completely disagree. The Ivy has been pulling in some of the best recruiting classes in the FCS.

Take this year for example.

FCS Recruiting Class Rankings:
Harvard: 2
Yale: 3
Penn: 6
Columbia: 14
Princeton: 19
Brown: 32
Cornell: 44
Dartmouth: 45

How can they really tell how good they are if they don't play in the FCS playoff?

The recruiting class rankings are based off the 247Sports Composite ratings, which take into account all the major recruiting websites.

and are bogus. Harvard/Yale don't have the 2 and 3 top FCS classes.

Add 25-40 to each rating for a reality check.

As a former Ivy League football player, I can say with 100% confidence that they will never ever ever get rid of football. While football might not be a "primary" concern on most of the campuses, the football teams tend to produce some of the most generous and loyal donors.

Recently, the majority of teams have made large commitments to football. Dartmouth recently completed a total renovation of their stadium and football facilities. Brown is renovating facilities, Harvard continues to invest in their stadium and athletic facilities, etc... Princeton's football stadium was torn down and rebuilt not long ago either.

Football is core to the idea of the Ivy League, and it's one of the reasons that this athletic conference (which is what it is) exists at all. In the same way Notre Dame views its football independence as core to their identity, football and Ivy League schools go hand-in-hand.

Adcorbett's comments about the Ivy League not being as "dangerous" as other levels is an unsupported and nonsensical statement. Ivy league players get the same concussions as everyone else, they've just been more proactive in seeking ways to limit the negative effects. Remember that the Big Ten partnered with this same "safe" league for concussion research: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/schooled_...rship.html

All the talk about some schools dropping football and some members going anywhere is nonsense. Ivy League schools value the brand of being in the Ivy League conference more than anything else. Football is a rounding error for their budgets and they'll support Varsity football so long as their endowments exist.

Feel free to continue speculating on this, but pigs, unicorns, and leprechauns will all fly over Franklin Field together before any of these teams drop football or switch conferences.

Regarding the recruiting rankings, the Ivy League is the only FCS conference that wins recruiting battles with the MAC and other G5 conferences. While the financial aid isn't a scholarship, take a look at the financial aid programs offered at many of these schools.

What would you do if you were weighing Akron vs. Princeton? Assuming they've done the academic work to be recruited and considered by Princeton, many will take that route.

I'm not saying that Ivy League teams would/could beat G5 teams, but they do hold their own and some in recruiting. The whole playoff thing is a separate and distinct issue.