<p>Do students generally travel to away football games? If it is far (like New Haven or Princeton), do they take the train? Do Dartmouth students spend the night with the other school’s students? (if they know someone there)</p>
<p>A related question: which school is Dartmouth’s big football rival - like Harvard v.Yale?</p>
<p>
Not all schools have big football rivals. If they do, then the big rivalry game is typically the final game of the regular season. This is true at all levels of college football, from DI-FBS rivalries like USC-UCLA or Army-Navy, to DI-FCS rivalries like Harvard-Yale or Lehigh-Lafayette, and even in DIII rivalries like Williams-Amherst or Bowdoin-Colby.</p>
<p>In recent years, Dartmouth has always finished its football season by playing Princeton. However, I don’t think the Dartmouth-Princeton football rivalry is anywhere near as big as the others listed above – in 2008, for example, the Dartmouth-Princeton game had the lowest attendance of any Princeton home game. The Princeton community is probably more interested in the games with Harvard and Yale.</p>
<p>I find that their are a lot of alumni that travel to games no matter where they are, including recent graduates. Last year at Princeton, Dartmouth seemed to have more attendees than the home team.</p>
<p>Very very very few Dartmouth students travel to football games (or any games for that matter)</p>
<p>very few dartmouth students go to home football games, though i think that trend is starting to turn around (no thanks to the football team’s skill, or record btw)</p>
<p>I would say Columbia might be Dartmouth’s biggest rival now, probably because we’re the two worst in the Ivies, and have had a couple brawls in the past few meetings</p>
<p>A friend who played football at Dartmouth years ago recently asked my frehman son about the games and was shocked to hear that few students attend them. He said in his day everyone went.</p>
<p>There is a push to increase student body participation at football games. That said, compared to other Ivy’s, Dartmouth’s home stands are virtually full for all home games- it has one of the smaller stadiums, but it has historic significance. Those that attend tend to be alumni, locals, etc. Students do attend, but not in great numbers. Stadium improvements have been approved but delayed because of the economy. The last several recruiting classes are thought to be the best in the Ivy’s and there is a turn-around anticipated for 2010 - 2012. That should help student attendance.</p>
<p>During my day, hockey was always the main sport at Dartmouth, and I know some students who traveled for that (usually just to Harvard or Yale, and down to Manchester for the game vs. New Hampshire).</p>
<p>In hockey, at least, Cornell and Harvard were always good, raucous games. But Princeton was probably the most disliked other school (I suspect it’s become less so since they stopped us from pelting the Princeton goalie with tennis balls after the first goal).</p>