Sportswriters Favor Indians

In a poll of close to 100 of the nation's leading sportswriters and broadcasters Dartmouth, 1962 Ivy League football champion, has been overwhelmingly rated as a favorite.

Although no team has ever repeated as champion in the eight-year history of the Ivy's formalized, round-robin activity, Bob Blackman's Hanover Indians garnered nearly three times as many first-place votes as the second-place choice, Harvard.

The national poll gave the Big Green a total of 54 first-place votes to 19 for the Crimson. Columbia and Princeton were next in line with five first-place votes apiece, while Pennsylvania had three, Cornell and Yale one each and Brown none.

Dartmouth not only won the Ivy League title for the second time in eight years last season, but also completed the campaign as one of the nations' three major undefeated and untied teams. Coach Blackman has lost two of his most-heralded stars in all-Ivy and all-East quarterback Bill King and all-American center Don McKinnon. Yet, with a host of returning men the Indians are still rated strong threats, although some must figure Harvard as a contender, thanks to many returning stars and good depth.

The predicted order of finish: 1. Dartmouth  (54) --639 points 2. Harvard  (19) --552 points 3. Columbia  (5) --460 points 4. Princeton  (5) --417 points 5. Cornell  (1) --383 points 6. Yale  (1) --295 points 7. Pennsylvania  (3) --260 points 8. Brown  (0) --169 points (Figures in parentheses indicate first-place votes. Total points are figured on the basis of 8 points for a first place vote, seven for a second place vote, and so on.)