Hail, Columbia.
That means the football program that once lost 44 games in a row but is now Ivy League champion. That also means the men’s basketball program that hasn’t had a winning season in eight years nor seen the NCAA Tournament since 1968 but is now 8-0.
Just what’s going on at New York City’s Ivy League school, where futility has splashed across generations? Something is up. Like, 1,454 feet up, at a certain midtown Manhattan landmark. “Obviously it’s an unbelievable accomplishment,” basketball coach Jim Engles was saying, “when you see the pictures of the Empire State Building in light blue.”
Columbia Lions light blue. It’s in. And this is why:
🏈 MORE FCS FOOTBALL 🏈
The football team outlasted Cornell 17-9 last weekend to finish 7-3 and clinch the school’s first conference title since 1961. True, the Lions must share it with Harvard and Dartmouth – meaning 37.5 percent of the Ivy League can say they’re co-champions – but who’s to quibble after six decades?
“To know that this actually happened after 63 years. I’ll keep saying that, because that is all that kept being thrown at me,” coach Jon Poppe said.
In those 62 years since, Columbia had only eight winning seasons – and six winless. They had 15 autumns with just one victory. From 1979-91 they played 128 games and won 10.
But now they’re third in the nation in scoring defense and when the other team can’t get into the end zone, good things can happen. Poppe’s seven wins are the most for a first-year Columbia coach since 1899, the year aspirin was introduced.
Admiring this feat has been Jim Engles, who coaches the basketball team so he has his full plate. “When you know all the hard work that goes into turning a program around and seeing the process actually come to fruition, it’s fun to see as a colleague and as a coach,” he said. Not that they share much air space, given Columbia’s unusually far-flung campus design. The…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at NCAA.com > football fcs articles and video…