Columbia Lions football
| Columbia Lions |
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| First season |
1870 |
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| Athletic director |
M. Dianne Murphy |
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| Head coach |
Chris Rippon (interim) |
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| Home stadium |
Wien Stadium |
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| Stadium capacity |
17,000 |
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| Stadium surface |
FieldTurf |
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| Location |
Manhattan, NY |
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| League |
NCAA Division I (FCS) |
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| Conference |
Ivy League |
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| All-time record |
373–633–43 (.376) |
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| Postseason bowl record |
1–0 (1.000) |
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| Conference titles |
1 (1961) |
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| Division titles |
0 |
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| Heisman winners |
0 |
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| Colors |
Columbia blue and White
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| Fight song |
Roar, Lion, Roar |
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| Mascot |
Roaree the Lion |
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| Rivals |
Fordham Rams |
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| Website |
GoColumbiaLions.com |
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- For information on all Columbia University sports, see Columbia Lions
The Columbia Lions football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Columbia University located in the U.S. state of New York. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Ivy League. Columbia played in what is generally regarded as the fourth college football game in November 1870. The team plays its home games at the 17,000 seat Wien Stadium in Manhattan, New York.
History
The beginning (1870-1900)
Sometime in early November 1870 - while November 12th is most cited, others claim November 5 or 11th - Columbia's intercollegiate football journey began with a short trip to New Brunswick, NJ to play Rutgers. Perhaps befitting the team that would one day own the NCAA Division 1 record for futility, they lost 3-6 in the first college football game between schools from different states.
The Streak
Between 1983 and 1988, the team failed to win for 44 games in a row, which is still the record for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. In the fifth game of the 1983 season, they won 21-18 over Yale. After that game, they did not win a game again for five years. The streak began with a tie game to Bucknell the following game, ending the season with a tie to Holy Cross and a loss to Dartmouth. After their 35th loss, they set the record for the longest Division I losing streak in history (beating Northwestern's 34 game losing streak from 1979-1982). After this game, Larry McElreavy, the current coach at the time told reporters, "I'm realistic; there's not a lot of talent here." ESPN rated the 1983-1988 Lions teams at 4th in its list of the top 10 worst college football teams of all time. The streak was broken on October 8, 1988, with a 16-13 victory over archrival Princeton after a missed field goal attempt by the Tigers late in the game. Matthew Fox most notably played on the '88 team. That was the Lions' first victory at Wien Stadium (which was already four years old, having been opened during the streak).[1][2]
Notable Players/Coaches
Notable Alumni Players
Bowl game appearances
Rivalries
Active rivalry
Cornell University (New York)
Fordham Rams
References
External links
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| National championship seasons in bold |
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