In its place, I give you a historical note:
Harvard's Seven National Championships as an Independent
Before the Ivy League was formed in 1954, each of its eight members participated as an independent in nearly all sports that they participated in. Harvard had seven of the first National Championships, all garnered before 1935 (the year the Heisman was first awarded).
First: 1890
The Crimson won their first NC in 1890 as an undefeated team and it outscored all opponents 555-12.
Also noteworthy was a First-Team All-American as a FRESHMAN.Second: 1898
The second NC of the Crimson came from another undefeated squad. The annual Harvard-Yale "The Game" took place as the last game of the season for both teams for the first time that year, beginning a tradition that still is in place today, despite many calls for playoff participation of the Ivy champion to extend that team's season in recent years.
Third: 1899
The last football championship of the 19th century was awarded to Harvard. Harvard registered 10 shutouts that season
, but The Game was a scoreless tie.Fourth: 1910
The first of Percy Haughton's three National Championships. A Cornell TD (then worth 5 points without a PAT) were the only opponents' points of the Crimson that year.
Fifth: 1912 and Sixth: 1913
Harvard had two national championships as part of a 33-game winning streak. The Harvard Crimson student paper summarizes the 1912 season before the Yale game: "Never has there been a more critical moment in Harvard’s athletic career than will be marked by the game of tomorrow afternoon. A victory tomorrow will prove to all that the rejuvenation of football at Harvard is a permanent matter and not a mere flash in the pan." In 1913, Harvard finally won against Princeton in New Jersey for the first time.
Seventh: 1919
Harvard did not have a formal football team for 1917 and 1918 as the First World War took over. When the war was over, Percy Haughton did not come back. The first six games were all shutouts by a combined score of 179-0 before a 10-10 tie against Princeton. Harvard had its first and only Bowl Game invitation (The Rose Bowl) on January 1, 1920, nipping the Ducks of Eugene 7-6.
