Big Win Propels Football Back Into National Rankings

After upsetting No. 10 Northeastern 28-20 on Saturday, the Harvard football team cracked into both sets of national rankings for the first time this season. The Crimson (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) was ranked No. 23 in The Sports Network poll and No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, both of which were released Monday afternoon.

Harvard joins defending Ivy-League champion Penn (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) as the only Ivy teams in the rankings. The Quakers are ranked No. 15 in both polls.

It is the first time the Crimson has been ranked since the third week of last season, when Harvard was No. 24 entering its matchup with Lehigh. A 36-35 loss to the Mountain Hawks on October 5 snapped an 11-game Harvard winning streak, and knocked the Crimson out of the polls for exactly one full season.

Meanwhile, after its loss to Harvard, Northeastern fell from No. 10 to No. 19 in both polls. The Huskies were The Sports Network’s preseason No. 1 pick, but suffered back-to-back losses to No. 3 Villanova and Harvard during the past two weeks.