NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Team 148 was selected second overall in the 2021 Ivy League Football Preseason Media Poll as announced by the conference office on Monday morning. Yale earned 104 points, just nine back of Princeton to go along with six first place votes.
 
The poll was voted on by a panel of 16 media members from across the league.
 
The reigning Ivy League champions went 9-1 overall in 2019 with a 6-1 Ivy record.
 
Rising junior quarterback and 2018 Ivy League Rookie of the Year, Griffin O'Connor, takes the reins of the offense from reigning Bushnell Cup winner, Kurt Rawlings. O'Connor will benefit from lead rusher, Zane Dudek, who was second in the league with eight rushing touchdowns in 2019.
 
The Yale defense also keeps continuity as the Elis return six of its top-seven tacklers from 2019, including captain and linebacker, John Dean.
 
The season kicks off at the Yale Bowl with nonconference action against Holy Cross on Saturday, September 18. Ivy League games start the following week against Cornell in New Haven on September 25.
 
 
2021 Ivy League Football Preseason Poll (First Place Votes)
1. Princeton – 113 (8)
2. Yale – 104 (6)
3. Dartmouth – 88 (1)
4. Harvard – 87
5. Penn – 61
6. Brown – 52
7. Columbia – 44 (1)
8. Cornell – 27