CFB Most Influential Programs
#9 Yale Bulldogs
School: Yale Bulldogs
First Game: November 30th, 1876
Winning Percentage: .698
Appearances in AP/Rank: 30 (94th)
Average AP Ranking: 13.6
National Titles: 27
Claim to Fame: Yale participates in one of the most storied college football rivalries against Harvard, and is one of 3 programs credited with pioneering the college football game we know today.
Why I have them in my Collection: Yale is one of the 3 main programs that helped shape the game of football. Prior to the biggest rule changes to college football in 1906, Yale and Princeton were hoovering up the majority of the national championships, with Yale claiming 23 of its 27 prior to 1906. Obviously the game was much different then, but this is something we should not overlook.
Yale was also the last Ivy League team to be ranked in the AP poll in 1972.
Yale football player Walter Camp is also credited with pushing football away from its rugby roots. Rather than the Rugby “scrum” he insisted that there should be a line of demarcation between the two sides. This rule would be made more official in the years that followed.
Yale’s rivalries with Harvard and Princeton are amongst the oldest standing in college football, and the one in particular with Harvard still garners national attention annually. Yale leads the series 71-63-1.
Yale has had more than a handful of players also make it to the professional ranks, and has a current player in the NFL on the Indianapolis Colts.
I believe that you obviously can’t properly chronicle college football without mentioning Yale, but there’s no denying how the program has pulled back since its early days of domination. When Division 1 football split in 2, Yale and the rest of the Ivy League schools decided to play at the Division 1-AA level. Also as previously mentioned, Yale does not offer athletic scholarships. This, along with not participating in the FCS playoffs and starting their football season later has somewhat muted the influence of Yale and the Ivy League in the modern era of college football. It would be interesting to wonder what would happen if all of a sudden the Ivy League went all in on college football. But, I don’t see that happening ever, especially considering the ludicrous amounts of money being tossed about for other conferences. The Ivy League wants to remain as “amateur” and academic focused as possible.
That said, you can’t deny what the Yale program has meant to American football, and that’s not something that will go away.
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