The Ivy League is finally back, and its FCS-newest Opening Day is Saturday. The Ancient Eight will present a familiar title battle, led by perennial powerhouses Harvard and Yale, but conference parity ensures the favorites have plenty of landmines.

Harvard went 8-2 overall in 2023, including a championship-clinching triple-overtime win on Senior Day against Penn. The following week, the Crimsons lost to Yale 23-18 in the game, giving the Bulldogs their share of the Ivy championship and epitomizing the weekly thrill of late-season Ivy ball.

November is of particular importance for the Ivy League, of course, as the conference has yet to make the FCS playoffs and potentially gain automatic entry into the competition. The league title is the ultimate and only crown for these historic rivals, most of whom have seen more departures than arrivals – but the depth of the programs at the top level of the league almost guarantees a photo finish.

Preseason All-Americans

Over FCS Football Headquarters

Brown (1) – DB Isaiah Reed (2nd team)

Penn (1) – WR Jared Richardson (2nd team)

Names you should know

BEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER: Jared Richardson, Penn WR — Richardson was a star last year, breaking out for the Quakers with team-highs in receptions (67), receiving yards (788) and receiving touchdowns (8). For Penn to break the ceiling set by Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Princeton at the top of the Ivy League, the Quakers will need to score even better than last season’s 26.2 PPG. Richardson, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior, will be a big part of that — though it will be exciting to see defenses pay extra attention to him after he makes a splash in 2023.

BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Isaiah Reed, Brown DB — Reed, in fairness, has a good case to take his teammate’s place as a top NFL prospect (see below). The 6-foot-4, 195-pound ballhawk led the Ivy League with five interceptions last year. All five interceptions came against Ivy opponents who finished ahead of Brown in the standings. Reed is all over the national radar, popping up on the Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list this preseason, in addition to being on the Buck Buchanan Award watch list and a 2025 East-West Shrine Bowl 1000 selection. Reed’s Brown defense will need his takeaways off the field if the 30.1 PPG he allowed in Ivy games last year doesn’t improve.

TOP NFL PROSPECT: Jake Willcox, Brown QB — Willcox is coached by Bears quarterbacks coach Heather Marini, the first female position coach in Division I history, who will also be the only female position coach in DI in 2024. Willcox’s play adds to that great story. The fifth-year quarterback has stepped up since his first starts in 2022. A year ago, Willcox led the Ivy League with 2,924 passing yards and was second in the Ivy League with 18 touchdown passes. As a senior, he was asked to take on that task and averaged 292.4 passing yards per game, along with 28.5 completed passes per game. That number makes Willcox the best returning FCS passer per game entering this fall. After another productive year, it’s possible the Everett, Massachusetts native could follow in the footsteps of fellow Brown quarterback (now a member of the NFL practice squad) EJ Perry.

HERO Sports predicted order of finish

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

The Ivy League has long been something of a unicorn in the FCS (not to mention academically prestige-wise), as its slightly shorter regular season tradition throws off national fans to some extent. Some of those fans may discount the Ivy because of its postseason pick, but the conference is also sometimes a one-point game factory that generates plenty of excitement with some of the subdivision’s legendary brands, all competing for similar recruits in similar areas.

A storied franchise, Harvard brings back a ton of power to enter the race. The Crimsons are experienced and have top QBs Charles DePrima and Jaden Craig back on the team. Not to mention the return of Shane McLaughlin, the 2023 Ivy League rushing leader with 830 yards on 155 attempts. Top wide receiver Cooper Barkate adds to the list of reliable faces for new Harvard head coach Andrew Aurich. Former head coach Tim Murphy retired in January after coaching the Crimsons for three decades. Murphy left Aurich with a good situation in Cambridge, albeit with the obvious big shoes to fill after such a long time.

It’s also a situation with strong competition for the top spot this season. Penn brings back quarterback Aidan Sayin as a senior. His 279.1 passing yards per game were fifth-best in the FCS last season. Yale, on the other hand, has to be one of the best preseason third-place finishers in any FCS conference. The Bulldogs are coming off the Nolan Grooms era at the QB position, but they retain numerous all-conference guys, including 2022 Ivy League Rookie of the Year Josh Pitsenberger, 6-4 tight end Ry Yates and defensive lineman Dylan Yang.

One of the most notable aspects of the Ivy League standings is that Princeton, Dartmouth and Brown form a rock-solid group in the middle. However, only one of those three teams can reach the top half of the projection, and Princeton is trustworthy under Bob Surace. Even in a down year (by the Tigers’ standards) a year ago at 5-5, there were wins over Harvard and Penn and one-point losses to Lafayette, Brown, Dartmouth and Yale.

It’s worth noting that the start of the Ivy League this week means we’ll see some interesting non-conference matchups in the Northeast, featuring Ivy programs that aren’t afraid of challenging matchups that would, in theory, lead to nice regional playoff games:

Week 1 – Yale at Holy Cross, Penn at (FBS transfer) Delaware

Week 3 – New Hampshire at Harvard, UAlbany at Cornell

Week 4 – Brown at Rhode Island, Princeton at Mercer