The 2002 Harvard Crimson football team was an American football team that represented Harvard University during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Crimson finished second in the Ivy League.
In their ninth year under head coach Timothy Murphy, the Crimson compiled a 7âÂÂ3 record and outscored opponents 267 to 230. Neil Rose was the team captain.
Harvard's 6âÂÂ1 conference record placed second in the Ivy League standings. The Crimson outscored Ivy opponents 190 to 154.
The Crimson appeared briefly, twice, in the national Division I-AA rankings: they were ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll, but dropped out of the top 25 before playing a game; and after opening the year with two wins, they were ranked No. 25 in the first poll of October. After their record dropped to 2âÂÂ1, they again fell out of the national rankings, and did not reappear in 2002.
On November 16, the annual HarvardâÂÂPenn game was the first Division I-AA matchup to host an episode of ESPN's "College GameDay", which had only visited Division I-A sites in its first nine years of remote broadcasts. The Ivy League had called ESPN to suggest highlighting the matchup of two teams with 5âÂÂ0 conference records.
Harvard played its home games at Harvard Stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.