Lions Complete Practice No. 3

NEW YORK—Columbia Football completed practice No. 3 Monday at Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The Lions went through a two-hour practice which included 11v11 offense vs. defense drills, 7v7 drills, special teams, offensive line vs. defensive line. Check out today's practice photo gallery. Earlier this afternoon, Columbia was picked to finish fourth in the annual preseason Ivy League Football Media Poll (click on release here). In a poll voted upon by various members of the media who cover Ivy League Football, the Lions earned 76 total points, one first-place vote and tied Penn for the No. 4 spot. 2017 Ivy League champion Yale was picked to finish first with 129 total points and 11 first-place votes, Princeton (104 points, three first-place votes) was picked second and Harvard (99 votes/one first-place vote) was third. Following Columbia and Penn was Dartmouth (65 points) at No. 6, Cornell (37 points) at No. 7 and Brown (26 points) at No. 8. It is the first time in 21 years and since 1997 that Columbia was picked as high. The 1997 Lions were coming off a 1996 season where they finished in second place with 5-2 Ivy League and 8-2 overall record. The highest place Columbia was ever picked to finish in the Ivy League was third place in 1963. Columbia has been picked to finish fourth in the league standings on four different occasions. Last year, Columbia was picked to finish seventh and ended up finishing in a tie for second place with a 5-2 Ivy League record and 8-2 overall record. A full schedule of preseason practices is listed at this link. For the second consecutive season, will host Montclair State in a preseason scrimmage at Robert K. Kraft Field on Friday, August 31 at noon. Admission is free and open to the public.