Princeton Picked Second In 2018 Preseason Poll; Tigers To Face Top-Ranked Rivals On The Road

The Princeton football team was picked to finish second in the 2018 Ivy League preseason media poll, which was announced Monday afternoon by the league office. While defending champion Yale earned the top spot in the poll, an impressive five teams earned at least one first-place vote in the poll. Yale took the top spot with 11 of the 17 first-place votes, while Princeton was the only other team in the league with more than one first-place vote (the Tigers earned three). Harvard, Columbia and Penn each grabbed one first-place vote apiece, and they filled the next three spots in the poll; Columbia and Penn actually share the fourth spot. The remainder of the poll went Dartmouth, Cornell, and Brown. If Princeton is going to win its second title in three years, it will have to be especially strong on the road this fall. The Tigers only have four road games all season — including their first-ever trip to Butler for the Sept. 15 season opener — but their three Ivy League road games are against the teams picked fourth (Columbia, Sept. 28, ESPNU), third (Harvard, Oct. 20, ESPN+), and first (Yael, Nov. 10, ESPN+). Princeton opened training camp on Saturday, and will be led by captains Mark Fossati, Kurt Holuba, Tom Johnson, and John Lovett this fall. Lovett, the 2016 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, was named to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America team, while Fossati, Holuba and Johnson should lead a veteran defensive crew this season.