Columbia was picked to finish last in the Ivy League preseason poll.

It is where the Lions finished in 2023. It is where they have finished 26 times since their most recent conference championship.

Jon Poppe was familiar with the history. He spent three years (2015-17) as Columbia’s defensive backs coach. He spent many more years in the stands, watching the team his father and brother both played for.

“If Columbia was home on Saturday, we were here,” Poppe said. “I remember the old AstroTurf, the grass parking lots, running around in the mud on rainy days.”