What does it take to be No. 1?

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In August 2005, the last time Penn was picked the pre-season favorite in the Ivy League media poll, the Quakers were a full year removed from a title,  coming off a 6-1, second-place finish to unbeaten Harvard. Bestowed with the preseason honor, Penn went 3-4 (5-5 overall). How 'bout them Quakers?

Six years later, Penn again finds itself the preseason No. 1. The circumstances are certainly different; Penn hasn't lost a conference game since Nov. 2008 — when this year's freshman class was taking geometry — and the Quakers are two-time defending champs, definitely deserving of top preseason ranking. But could another collapse be at hand?

Unlikely. Despite coach Al Bagnoli's insistence of greater parity within the league, the Quakers are the Ivy powerhouse right now.  But there is some weight to a preseason crown, one the Quakers will have to carry.

Last year, despite an undefeated run to the Ivy title in 2009, Harvard got the media-poll nod in August. Perhaps it was justified — some questions lingered after Penn's star QB of the previous season, Keiffer Garton, suffered an ACL tear in spring ball — but the Quakers were also justified in viewing in taking offense to the ranking.

Garton and Bagnoli both said at Penn's media day last year that it didn't quite add up to them: “We take it as a little bit of a slight,” Penn coach Al Bagnoli said before the 2010 season. “But when you’re the defending champ in and you beat them at their place, you’ve got 15 starters back … and you’re still picked second — obviously there’s something wrong here.” Oh yeah, did I mention Penn beat Harvard at Harvard?

But the Red and Blue took it as motivation. "We’ll use it," Bagnoli said before another undefeated run in 2010.

This year the Quakers no longer have to prove they should have been No. 1, they have to prove they should be No. 1, a slight distinction, but one that is much more difficult this time around. It's a matter of hype.

Consider the buzz surrounding Monday's release of the highly anticipated collaboration from rap titans Jay-Z and Kanye West. The album, Watch the Throne, was supposed to be earth-shattering, mind-blowing, stay-up-til-3-am-to-download-and-listen-to-in-its-entirety-twice awesome. But as far as critical acclaim went, reviews were mixed. There were some highlights, but this is not a game-changer for hip-hop. It's only been two days, but for all the hype, not one song has cracked iTunes top 100 rankings. The album as a whole has climbed to No. 9, while Luke Bryan's (who?) Tailgates and Tanlines shot to No. 1, released just three days earlier.

Set your expectations high and it's flat-out difficult to live up to, let alone surpass them. This is the difficulty of being a defending champ, a No.1. We know Kanye and Jay-Z are excellent at what they do, so we demand excellence out of every record. The fact is, we probably won't get it — at least not every time.

For the first time since August 2005 — coincidentally the same month Kanye released his critically acclaimed sophomore effort, Late Registration, a year after huge success from his debut — Penn football has to live up to the hardest standard there is: excellence. As the Quakers know, No. 1 means a target on their back, week in and week out. It means each snap, for seven weeks, they'll have no other job but to watch the throne.