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Unbeaten No. 11 Harvard hosts Princeton in a pivotal Ivy League clash, with first place and the inside track to an FCS playoff bid at stake.
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The Ivy League title race runs through Harvard Stadium on Saturday. Princeton (4-1, 2-0 Ivy) visits No. 11 Harvard (5-0, 2-0) at 3 p.m. ET, and they are the only two teams left without a league loss. Harvard's rank is from our Week 7 FCS Top 25, and Princeton received votes.
The stakes go past bragging rights. The Ivy champion now earns the league's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, so the winner gets a one-game lead in the race with four Ivy games left for both teams. For Harvard, a win would also protect one of the FCS's last unbeaten records. Tarleton State and Stephen F. Austin are the only other teams without a loss.
Harvard is 5-0 for the second straight year. The Crimson opened with a 31-7 win at New Hampshire, won 14-10 at Brown, beat Colgate 20-17, won 41-29 at Cornell and beat Holy Cross 30-7 last Saturday.
The defense has carried a lot of that. Harvard gives up 14.0 points per game, which ranks fifth in the FCS, and it has held four of its five opponents to 17 points or fewer. The Crimson also have 10 interceptions in five games.
Harvard is 30-6 over the last four seasons, and it hasn't lost at Harvard Stadium since the 2024 finale, according to Harvard Athletics. This is its first Ivy home game of the year.
Princeton's only loss came in its opener, 21-14 at Bryant. The Tigers have won four straight since. They shut out UAlbany 22-0, won 35-7 at Columbia and 28-13 at Wagner, then beat Brown 16-10 at home last Saturday.
The Tigers win with the run game and their defense. They have allowed 30 points total in the four-game streak. On offense, they hand the ball to Kai Honda and keep the passing game simple.
Harvard QB Charlie Smith (sophomore): Smith has completed 114 of 160 passes for 1,223 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. His 71.3% completion rate leads the Ivy League. He threw for 297 yards against Holy Cross.
Harvard WR Nate Bailey (freshman): Bailey leads the Crimson with 39 catches for 385 yards and two touchdowns. He had 189 yards against Colgate and is on the Jerry Rice Award watch list for the top FCS freshman.
Harvard DB Xaden Benson (junior): Benson leads the FCS with six interceptions, more than half of Harvard's total.
Harvard LB Dorsey Benefield (junior): Benefield leads the Crimson with 42 tackles.
Princeton RB Kai Honda (junior): Honda has 492 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 84 carries, or about 5.9 yards per carry. He ran for 219 yards and four scores at Columbia.
Princeton QB Wyatt Becker (freshman): Becker has completed 41 of 83 passes for 557 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Sophomore Josh Smith is his top target with 11 catches for 203 yards.
Princeton LB Chase Christopher (senior) and LB Jake Moore (junior): Christopher leads the Tigers with 44 tackles. Moore has 4.5 sacks.
Princeton leads the all-time series 60-47-9, and Saturday is the 117th meeting. The first one came in 1877. The recent games have swung back and forth. Princeton won three straight from 2021 to 2023: 18-16 in five overtimes at Princeton, 37-10 in Cambridge and 21-14 at Princeton. Harvard answered with a 45-13 win at home in 2024 and a 35-14 win at Princeton last season.
Can Princeton run on Harvard? Honda is the Tigers' engine. Harvard has held four opponents under 330 yards of total offense, according to Harvard Athletics. If Princeton can't move the ball on the ground, it will need Becker to make plays he hasn't had to make often.
Can Princeton avoid Benson? Becker has completed about half his passes. Harvard's secondary has turned errant throws into takeaways all season. A short field could decide a game between two good defenses.
Can Princeton slow Smith and Bailey? Smith is accurate, and Bailey is a volume target. Princeton will want to keep plays in front of it and force Harvard into long drives.
Both teams beat Brown, the only opponent they share, and both did it by four or six points. Harvard won 14-10 in Providence, and Princeton won 16-10 at home. That says these teams are close, but not much more.
Harvard is No. 10 in the FCS playoff committee's first top 10 of 2026, and it was the Ivy League's automatic qualifier in our Week 7 bracket projection. As far as Redshirt Sports knows, the committee doesn't use our poll, but it can be a good indicator. A Harvard win would leave the Crimson as the only Ivy team without a league loss. A Princeton win would flip that, and it would put the Tigers in front for the automatic bid.
Kickoff is 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The game streams on ESPN+. Harvard plays at Dartmouth on Friday, Oct. 30, and Princeton hosts Cornell on Oct. 31.
