Dartmouth College, one of eight Ivy League football programs, is eligible to participate in postseason play for the first time since 1945. The private research universities are located in the Northeast. (Photo by DartmouthSports.com)
By Dan Verdun
When the news broke this past winter that Ivy League presidents had approved the conference’s participation in FCS postseason play, you could count Eastern Illinois head Chris Wilkerson among those with a smile on his face.
“I’m happy for those guys,” Wilkerson told Prairie State Pigskin.
After all, Wilkerson spent nearly a decade in the Ivy League as an assistant coach at Dartmouth College (2005-13), located in Hanover, N.H.
“In my time out there I know that players, coaches and some administrators had said it was the only sport in the entire Ivy League – and some of those schools offer 40-plus NCAA Division I sports – that their student-athletes were not allowed to compete for a national championship,” Wilkerson said.
All that changed in December when an 80-year-old policy that kept the Ivy League out of the postseason to maintain a focus on academics was altered.
“It had always been this way, just because it had always been this way,” Wilkerson explained. “As there has been a change in leadership at the presidential level, it allowed them to think about it a little more with a fresh set of eyes. I’m very happy for them. I know Sammy McCorkle, the head coach at Dartmouth, very well. He and I worked together side by side for eight years with Coach (Buddy) Teevens.”
McCorkle’s time at Dartmouth began the same year as Wilkerson. While Wilkerson left Dartmouth to become the head coach at the University of Chicago in 2013, McCorkle remained with the Big Green.
McCorkle, 52, coached special teams and defensive backs through the 2022 season. He took over as head coach in 2023 when Teevens sustained injuries, and subsequently died, in a bicycle accident.
McCorkle led Dartmouth to a share of the Ivy League title that season and was named the league’s coach of the year. The Big Green also earned a share of last year’s league championship.
Prairie State Pigskin requested an interview with McCorkle several times over the past few months. Dartmouth, however, failed to respond.
Nevertheless, McCorkle did comment to The Dartmouth, the school’s student publication, in December 2024.
“We knew it was going to be voted on,” McCorkle said of joining the FCS postseason. “When I received the email, it was unbelievable. It was exciting, and I am so happy for the league.”
According to McCorkle, the change was sparked by the Ivy League’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which is composed of conference student-athlete representatives.
The Ivy League conference champion will receive an automatic bid into the 24-team FCS playoff bracket. The league is currently working on rules to determine the bid in the event of co- or multiple-champions. Dartmouth, Columbia and Harvard shared the title last season.
Stay tuned
There are still questions as the Ivy League prepares for its first postseason game since 1945.
Last season, 10 FCS conferences held automatic qualifying bids. With the addition of the Ivy League, that number has reached 11 and reduces the at-large bids to 13 committee selections.
Both the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which includes Illinois State and Southern Illinois, and the Ohio Valley Conference-Big South Football Association, which includes Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois, receive automatic qualifying bids.
In addition, both the MVFC and OVC were awarded three at-large bids last season.
With the Ivy League now participating, it’s certainly possible the other 11 FCS playoff-participating conferences could lose out when the Division I Football Championship Committee awards at-large bids.
“If I’m an Ivy League player, it gives you something to go play for, a (national) championship. Every student-athlete should have that opportunity. There are a lot of good football players in that league,” Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill told Prairie State Pigskin.
Lindy’s Sports College Football Preview does not have any Ivy League teams ranked in its FCS preseason Top 25. Five MVFC teams appear on the list, including Illinois State at No. 9. The Redbirds received an at-large playoff bid last fall and won their first-round game. Lindy’s ranked OVC member Southeast Missouri at No. 13.
The publication predicts Harvard to win the Ivy League ahead of Yale and Dartmouth.
Does it go to 11 (or even 12)?
Traditionally, the Ivy League’s eight teams begin their seasons well after Labor Day and play for 10 straight weeks with no breaks.
“It’s a sprint and a marathon at the same time,” Harvard All-Ivy offensive tackle Jake Rizy said in the late John Feinstein’s 2024 book The Ancient Eight: College Football’s Ivy League and the Game They Play Today.
“I know a number of guys still coaching in that league,” Wilkerson said. “The question that I have for them is will they add an extra game to play 11 (regular season) games and then a playoff game? Will they play 12 games in a 12-game year? I don’t think they’ve answered that. Right now, I think they’re still going to play 10 and the league champion will have an AQ.”
Wilkerson added there may be an outcry when comparing the 10-game Ivy League schedule with the 12-game schedules played by the rest of FCS.
“In their defense, they don’t report for camp until much, much later,” Wilkerson said. “We’ll report July 27 or 28 and play our opener at the end of August. They’ll play their openers typically on the second or third weekend in September. They may not report for preseason until the end of August.
“I know a focus in that league is to try to reduce the amount of class that they miss, so that’s one point of awareness. It’s a historic league with some really good football players. They also want to see where they stack up with everyone else nationally.”
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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