Its about money? Seriously? The Ivy League schools have plenty of money. The amount they will make on this tournament is not going to move the needle. And where is the hand wringing over the Ivy League lax tournament or the ECAC hockey playoffs ruining those sports? Next on the agenda should be to allow the football teams to play in the post season.
Disappointing... the Ivies loose an opportunity to lead and to keep sports in the proper perspective...
And why? Money? What are the endowments of the likes of Harvard and Princeton, again?
Particulary disappoint are the blatant weasel-words used to justify this by the "executive director" of the Ivy League:
“The structure of our basketball tournaments is consistent with our model of college athletics, and the format allows us to preserve the significance of the regular season."
Sounds like the double-talk from all the other (gorssly overpaid) sports flaks in big time sports!
And why do the Ivies even NEED such "administrators"? Let the Presidents decide things, the that they do for pretty much ALL other aspects of their universities!
And why? Money? What are the endowments of the likes of Harvard and Princeton, again?
Particulary disappoint are the blatant weasel-words used to justify this by the "executive director" of the Ivy League:
“The structure of our basketball tournaments is consistent with our model of college athletics, and the format allows us to preserve the significance of the regular season."
Sounds like the double-talk from all the other (gorssly overpaid) sports flaks in big time sports!
And why do the Ivies even NEED such "administrators"? Let the Presidents decide things, the that they do for pretty much ALL other aspects of their universities!
2
the ivies emphasis on sports has become an obsession which will slowly but surely diminish their academic standing. i give nothing to my alma mater Harvard because if this crazy emphasis on football and basketball.
4
one of the brightest things about not having a tournament is that every year team like cornell and princeton this year could share with the the ncaa tournament champion and the nit champion the distinction of having their seniors win their last game of the season. every team that has a conference tournament loses that opportunity.
4
It's a dark, dark day.
3
Terrible. Just terrible. And enough about how awesome this 4-team scheme is. One-bid conferences should want to ensure that their best team makes the NCAA. What this does is make it harder, by ensuring that the #1 seed has to beat both the #4 seed and then either the #2 or #3.
College basketball is played by kids. Kids -- especially kids who actually go to class and study and do other actual college stuff -- have off nights. Even that great Cornell team -- the best team the Ivies have had since 1979 -- lost a game in the conference that year: to a terrible Penn team, on the road, on an off night. It would have been a shame if that team had to win a conference tournament and suffered one of those off nights during the tournament.
College basketball is played by kids. Kids -- especially kids who actually go to class and study and do other actual college stuff -- have off nights. Even that great Cornell team -- the best team the Ivies have had since 1979 -- lost a game in the conference that year: to a terrible Penn team, on the road, on an off night. It would have been a shame if that team had to win a conference tournament and suffered one of those off nights during the tournament.
4
As a graduate of one of these institutions and long time follower of Ivy basketball,I support the new tournament format to crown the Ivy champion. My reason? While the championship winner will go to the big dance, the regular season winner will have a good chance to go to the NIT. Yale was robbed last year-while they were Ivy co-champions, Harvard went to the NCAA tournament while Yale was snubbed by the NIT. Had this new format been in place earlier, Yale would have has a post season to play for.
1
Hmmm....I may be wrong but I believe every conference in the NCAA including Divisions 1,2 and 3 have conference tournaments. Every conference, that is, except the Ivy League. Now the monolith is complete. Kids on those teams will love it I'm sure. Their fans will like it as well. Those of us in the last quarter of our lives, watching the world spin into forms that are unrecognizable, will generally wring our hands. But I'm having a moment of rare clarity. I'm glad this is happening for the student athletes involved. Have fun. Now I'll retreat into my cobwebby world and think about how much better things were in 1966.
2
Be careful what you wish for. The proposed Ivy four-team tournament will not have the same level of excitement as tournaments which bring together fans of eight, ten, twelve schools, for massive celebration and competition. What will happen, though, is that the Ivy League will often not send its' best team to the NCAA Tournament. Which would be a shame, since the league has recently gained respect, with Harvard having done well in the Big Dance, as Cornell had done before them, and Penn before that.
People might remember that Columbia won two games in the 1968 NCAA Tournament. But most are unaware that Ivy administrators, in all their wisdom, prevented two other good Columbia teams of the late '60s from accepting tentative bids to the NIT (then a very big-deal tournament played exclusively in Madison Square Garden). Something about the terrible threat to Ivy academics that would have been occurred if the Lions took a short subway ride downtown.
Ivy administrators have been wrong before. I fear we're headed down that road again.
People might remember that Columbia won two games in the 1968 NCAA Tournament. But most are unaware that Ivy administrators, in all their wisdom, prevented two other good Columbia teams of the late '60s from accepting tentative bids to the NIT (then a very big-deal tournament played exclusively in Madison Square Garden). Something about the terrible threat to Ivy academics that would have been occurred if the Lions took a short subway ride downtown.
Ivy administrators have been wrong before. I fear we're headed down that road again.
1
The Ivy League has poured more scholarship money into basketball, and its conference champions are more often competitive in the NCAA championships. The New York Times has great affinity for the Ivy League and apparently doesn't choose to tell you the reason for this change. For that, consult CBS, which states the ugly truth. A tournament is likely to attract TV money, and the Ivy League, for all its true amateurism, is not above that.
3
One more positive thing that set the Ivy League schools apart now falls by the wayside.
If recent history's any guide, even with the four-team playoff, it's going to be Harvard, Pennsylvania and Princeton vying for the championship, with an occasional appearance by Yale, whose stellar season this year was, unfortunately, tainted by the scandal swirling around them.
The Palestra is a good place to start, but move the games to arenas in other major northeastern cities, like New York, Boston, Hartford, Providence, and Newark.
Concerning the other Ivy League schools, particularly those Lions at Morningside Heights, dear Columbia, please recruit and admit some very smart ballers who want to go to school in New York City. It's doable!
If recent history's any guide, even with the four-team playoff, it's going to be Harvard, Pennsylvania and Princeton vying for the championship, with an occasional appearance by Yale, whose stellar season this year was, unfortunately, tainted by the scandal swirling around them.
The Palestra is a good place to start, but move the games to arenas in other major northeastern cities, like New York, Boston, Hartford, Providence, and Newark.
Concerning the other Ivy League schools, particularly those Lions at Morningside Heights, dear Columbia, please recruit and admit some very smart ballers who want to go to school in New York City. It's doable!
1
Good suggestion, find a larger venue. However, most of them have already been locked up by the other eastern conferences.
I guess you haven't paid attention. Other teams have done quite well (Penn, Cornell, etc.).
1
As a graduate of one of the institutions involved, I'm not for it either. Having the overall season champion get the bid makes the most sense. Having half the teams compete in a tournament seems to be superfluous; and in fact might negate the work of the overall season's champion. It also probably increases the chance that a player will be injured.
3
Look at the accompanying photo. Pseudo-NBA roaring and chest thumping is what college sports has become. Is this what the Ivy League wants to add to their mix?
3
sounds like a racist comment to me. i'm offended.
Not cool. The IVY League wants to be pretend that it is not part of the out-of-control NCAA landscape. But a move such as this shows otherwise. $$$$$
3
If you have not read the new book "Indentured" about the NCAA, college sports, and lucrative TV contracts, written by NYT's columnist Joe Nocera (and Ben Strauss) go get it now! Money! Money! Money!
This quote in memory of my Father, Princeton, Class of 1950.
"All the barriers have been lowered."
This quote in memory of my Father, Princeton, Class of 1950.
"All the barriers have been lowered."
3
A sad money-grab. No longer will every game matter.
3
Seems fair to all the other schools other than Penn to have the tournament at the Palestra. I guess peer pressure from the other leagues of the NCAA is just too much to overcome. What a shame.
Not digging it. Yale's loss last year was heartbreaking, but it was a dramatic end to the season and the better team, sad to say, advanced to the tournament. With just eight teams, it can be a bit of luck and bam: You're in, and the team that proved it all season long goes home. When the Ivies expand to 12 or so teams and start handing out athletic scholarships to the point that two or more schools get in the NCAA's each year, then we can talk. But until then, it ain't broke, so don't fix it.
7
What a shame.
Using post-season tournaments to crown a champion, over the results of the 56 regular season games is an abomination.
I get why the major conferences do it (spoiler: it's money) but would have thought the Ivy League could continue to avoid it.
Using post-season tournaments to crown a champion, over the results of the 56 regular season games is an abomination.
I get why the major conferences do it (spoiler: it's money) but would have thought the Ivy League could continue to avoid it.
10
Don't like it. For a one-bid conference like the Ivy League, a conference tournament is silly. All it can do is potentially prevent the conference's best team from going to the NCAA tournament. It'll take the kids away from schoolwork and campus for one more weekend. It won't be a moneymaker. (Penn and Princeton fans will attend, if their teams are involved, but how many folks from Harvard or Yale or Dartmouth or Cornell are going to come down to Philly for this?) It will be on TV, but how much will that really help the conference? The Ivy League doesn't suffer from a lack of name recognition or exposure.
That said, if they're going to do it, a four-team playoff is better than an eight-team playoff. And with the possible exception of Phog Allen Fieldhouse, there is no better college basketball arena than the Palestra.
That said, if they're going to do it, a four-team playoff is better than an eight-team playoff. And with the possible exception of Phog Allen Fieldhouse, there is no better college basketball arena than the Palestra.
7
Just because everyone else is doing it, why does the Ivy League need to do this? Their regular season is the perfect season, the perfect test of a team's ability. This isn't progress, this is copying all the big-money leagues.
14
My only question is why the first tournament is to be held at Penn's home court. Isn't this a clearly unfair advantage for Penn if they are in the tournament?
I say this as a Princeton fan: the greatness of the Palestra (especially when compared to the generally awful courts of the other Ivy League schools) trumps the unfair advantage.
5
I agree. Jadwin's like a big cave with dark empty corners, and the others are like high school gyms.
I don't like the idea of a 4-team tournament. Right now they bill the Ivy League as a 14-game tournament, I think they should keep it that way. Also, I'm a big Columbia fan, and they had three good seniors this year, but they weren't good enough to get the bid to the NCAA Tournament. They blew a big lead against Princeton at home and lost that game in overtime and they couldn't beat Yale. So they don't deserve to go. Next year with these three seniors graduating, I don't think Columbia even stands a chance of being in the Ivy's top 4.
5
im a big college sports nut, but the more I think about it and the more I see, the more i like what the Ivy League does. This tournament setup is a perfect example. The regular season still matters since only the top 4 teams qualify for post-season tourney and the teams play a normal schedule that is heavy on weekend games (usually Friday night and Sunday). This is what college sports is supposed to be; not the MINOR LEAGUES that it has developed in where long time rivalries have disappeared in favor of making more and more money.
6