The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a member of the Ivy League.

Having finished the 2024 season tied with Dartmouth and Harvard for first place in conference play, the Lions are reigning Ivy League co-champions.

The losing streak was so bad, that at one point, when the team came out on the field, the school's band would play the theme to The Mickey Mouse Club rather than their fight song.

One notable loss during the streak was in a 1985 game vs. Harvard, where the Lions led 17–0 with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, only to see the Crimson score 7 touchdowns in the remaining time to lose 49–17.

[2] The streak was broken on October 8, 1988, with a 16–13 victory over archrival Princeton after a missed field goal attempt by the Tigers late in the game.

The Columbia Lions and the Cornell Big Red, the two Ivy League teams in New York State, have met 111 times since 1889.

The Columbia Lions and the Fordham Rams, the two largest Division I programs in New York City, met 24 times between 1890 and 2015.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Sid Luckman played his college ball at Columbia, graduating in 1938.

Another Lions back who became legendary for his accomplishments off the gridiron was baseball great Lou Gehrig, who was a two-sport star at Columbia.