The End of Ivy Hockey Competitiveness?

[Roy 82]

I'm sure this has come up before, but would this have ever mattered?  Has there ever been an Ivy that would make the FCS playoffs?  Or are there conference auto bids?

Don't be so sure. Recently, in the national poll...

In 2003, Penn finished a 10-0 season ranked #12 in the national polls.
In 2004, Harvard finished a 10-0 season ranked #14

Even this decade:
2010: http://www.pennathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1700&ATCLID=205014460
2011: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/2011-12/releases/20111112smzkl0

With the tournament field having 20 teams (expanding to 24 this season), I have no doubts that the top teams of the Ivies can complete at that level and win tournament games.  In 2003, Cornell fell to Colgate, 27-24. Colgate went on to lose to Delaware in the National Championship game.  Lehigh won a tournament game in both 2010 and 2011.

Yes, but you are talking about being nationally competitive in a second teir league. Might as well hand out participation trophies. ::snore::

[Trotsky]

Trotsky,

Do you know what the average place (or average winning percentage) of the Ivies vs. the non-Ivies has been each year since the ECAC became a 12-team league? My gut feeling is that originally the non-Ivies did better with only Cornell and Harvard usually finishing near the top. More recently the Ivies have finished better.

This year is by no means over although Dartmouth and Princeton do seem pretty bad.

The linear trendline for the composite Ivy winning percentage during the 27 years of round robin ECAC play has ascended from 45% to 52%; a second-order polynomial line also rises overall but has descended slightly after peaking in 2010.  The best years for Ivy performance since 1987 were all within the period 2003-2010: 2003 (59%), 2009 (56%), 2002 (55%), and 2010 (54%).  The worst were within the period 1989-1999: 1996 (39%), 1997 and 1989 (42%) and 1999 (44%).

Code Select Expand


[b]Team 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013[/b]
Arm 12 8 13 11 8
Brn 18 5 2 19 20 24 28 27 28 16 10 24 15 10 8 22 24 28 20 11 16 15 10 16 18 14 20
Clk 26 23 28 27 32 31 28 30 31 34 34 34 36 21 32 27 21 18 16 20 30 33 20 11 19 22 19
Col 31 27 31 37 22 22 18 22 25 30 23 21 26 30 17 22 21 30 31 30 17 21 17 26 11 23 15
Cor 16 30 26 27 31 24 11 19 20 32 30 19 21 21 25 36 39 29 38 29 24 25 29 31 24 30 19
Drt 5 17 15 12 3 8 18 9 16 14 12 17 14 19 24 23 26 27 28 30 27 15 24 17 26 19 22
Hvd 40 36 40 25 28 32 35 36 25 19 20 21 18 20 26 23 35 22 32 27 22 27 24 17 15 25 14
Prn 15 23 9 23 15 19 15 17 21 13 25 20 27 20 22 22 6 12 14 17 22 28 28 18 24 16 20
Qpc 17 24 22 21 22 19 23 37
RPI 18 18 18 28 28 16 31 28 23 16 27 26 28 23 24 23 11 27 13 22 17 15 13 23 24 17 27
SLU 30 36 36 26 31 31 26 16 20 33 15 18 33 33 29 20 17 17 19 25 33 16 26 23 13 21 22
Uni 5 6 23 16 11 25 11 4 13 18 19 22 19 17 22 15 25 20 28 36 32 24
Ver 24 29 26 16 26 23 21 26 24 37 29 18 16 8 18 7 16 15 29
Yal 29 12 20 13 20 29 27 11 15 9 14 35 26 16 21 20 26 20 7 14 17 22 32 32 35 22 25
Total 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 234 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264 264
Ivy 123 123 112 119 117 136 134 119 125 103 111 136 121 106 126 146 156 138 139 128 128 132 147 131 142 126 120


tl;dr: The Ivies are getting better.

[RichH]

I'm sure this has come up before, but would this have ever mattered?  Has there ever been an Ivy that would make the FCS playoffs?  Or are there conference auto bids?

Don't be so sure. Recently, in the national poll...

In 2003, Penn finished a 10-0 season ranked #12 in the national polls.
In 2004, Harvard finished a 10-0 season ranked #14

Even this decade:
2010: http://www.pennathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1700&ATCLID=205014460
2011: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/2011-12/releases/20111112smzkl0

With the tournament field having 20 teams (expanding to 24 this season), I have no doubts that the top teams of the Ivies can complete at that level and win tournament games.  In 2003, Cornell fell to Colgate, 27-24. Colgate went on to lose to Delaware in the National Championship game.  Lehigh won a tournament game in both 2010 and 2011.

Yes, but you are talking about being nationally competitive in a second teir league. Might as well hand out participation trophies. ::snore::

Dude, really? -1

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

I'm sure this has come up before, but would this have ever mattered?  Has there ever been an Ivy that would make the FCS playoffs?  Or are there conference auto bids?

Don't be so sure. Recently, in the national poll...

In 2003, Penn finished a 10-0 season ranked #12 in the national polls.
In 2004, Harvard finished a 10-0 season ranked #14

Even this decade:
2010: http://www.pennathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=1700&ATCLID=205014460
2011: http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/fball/2011-12/releases/20111112smzkl0

With the tournament field having 20 teams (expanding to 24 this season), I have no doubts that the top teams of the Ivies can complete at that level and win tournament games.  In 2003, Cornell fell to Colgate, 27-24. Colgate went on to lose to Delaware in the National Championship game.  Lehigh won a tournament game in both 2010 and 2011.

Yes, but you are talking about being nationally competitive in a second teir league. Might as well hand out participation trophies. ::snore::

Dude, really? -1

For the comment or the spelling error?