Columbia can only control one piece of an elusive puzzle.
But the Lions (6-3 overall, 4-2 conference) came close to winning their first Ivy League football title since 1961.
On Saturday afternoon, they will host rival Cornell University (4-5 overall, 3-3 in the conference) in the 14th Empire State Bowl. If Columbia wins and Harvard loses the competition against Yale, Columbia will clinch a share of the Ivy League title. Dartmouth (7-2 overall, 4-2 in the conference) is in the same spot as Columbia going into the game against Brown and has a chance to clinch a share of the conference championship with a win combined with the loss to Harvard.
Lions head coach John Poppe led a remarkable turnaround in his first season on the job. He took over a team that finished last in its conference a year ago.
“It's something we talked about openly before the season started,” Poppe told The Post's Howie Cussoy about the team's title hopes. “That was our goal: to feel safe and confident [about it]. … We have an influx of very experienced, very talented fifth-year seniors, so I said, “We’ve got an influx of very experienced, very talented fifth-year seniors.
“A big part of that was creating expectations and establishing a mindset of what it takes to be a champion, and they invested in that process. The depth of depth that we were able to build; We have a lot of next players, and they've helped us play some great football.”
Quarterback Caleb Sanchez, a true freshman, will make his second career start on Saturday. He threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns in a 21-12 win over Brown last week.
Although the matchup has taken on its current name since 2010, the origins of this rivalry date back to 1889. Saturday will mark the 111th meeting between the two teams. Columbia has a 41-66-3 record against Cornell University, but has won five of its past six games.
