With the burning image of last year's Ivy champ bonfire still vivid in my mind, it was hard to believe that the preseason hubbub had already come for this fall's Princeton Tiger lineup. As reported by NJ.com, Princeton managed to make the only Ivy appearance in the Top 25 preseason picks of the Sports Media Entertainment poll (No. 23) and the College Sporting News poll (No. 25). How on earth we are going to live up to this sudden national recognition as a supposed force in football, I will never understand. The circumstances look grim:

• Last year was our first nine-win season since 1964.
• We hadn't claimed the Ivy League title in over 10 years, and technically we shared the title last year with Yale.
• Princeton has only clinched the Ivy League title in consecutive years once before.
• The team has lost seven All-League Honors players including the league's player of the year, quarterback Jeff Terrell.

Don't get me wrong...Of course I'd love another John Harvard barbeque. Pass the bulldog burgers please.