Roger Brown
nhfootballreport.com

Dartmouth College coach Buddy Teevens said he wasn't surprised when he learned that his team was picked to finish seventh in this year's Ivy League media poll. That doesn't mean he thinks the poll is accurate, though.

"With the losses to graduation we had, it's not surprising the media picked us that low," Teevens said. "But this is the deepest and most athletic team we've had the past four years, and I know we will be more competitive than what the media gives us credit."

Dartmouth returns 15 starters from a team that finished 3-4 in the Ivy League last season. Quarterback Tom Bennewitz is among the 2007 starters lost to graduation. Alex Jenny will likely be the starting QB when Dartmouth opens its season at Colgate on Sept. 20 (1 p.m.). Jenny threw for 484 yards and five touchdowns last season.

Harvard and Yale shared the top spot in the poll, which was released at Ivy League media day Tuesday. Each team received eight of the 17 first-place votes.

Brown, which is coached by Laconia High School graduate Phil Estes, was selected third in the poll. Estes was a three-year starter at the University of New Hampshire and served as UNH's offensive coordinator from 1991 to 1993. He also coached at Concord High School.

"This is a wide-open conference, passing the ball all over the field," Teevens said. "Harvard and Yale have established themselves as the favorite, but the gap between them and the rest of the league is shrinking. This will be a very competitive season up and down the league."

Dartmouth's first home game will be against UNH on Sept. 27.

IVY LEAGUE PRESEASON MEDIA POLL
(First-place votes in parenthesis)

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