Ivy League men's basketball tournament
The Ivy League men's basketball tournament is the postseason conference tournament in men's basketball for the Ivy League. It was first held in 2017, and is held alongside the Ivy women's tournament, also introduced in 2017, at the same venue. The overall event is currently marketed as Ivy Madness. The Ivy League was the last NCAA Division I conference without a postseason tournament.
| Ivy League men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Sport | College basketball |
| Conference | Ivy League |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Jadwin Gymnasium (2023) |
| Current location | Princeton, NJ (2023) |
| Played | 2017–2019, 2022–present |
| Last contest | 2023 |
| Current champion | Princeton Tigers |
| Most championships | Yale (2) Princeton (2) |
| Official website | Website |
| Host stadiums | |
| Palestra (2017–2018) John J. Lee Amphitheater (2019) Canceled (2020–2021) Lavietes Pavilion (2022) | |
| Host locations | |
| Philadelphia, PA (2017–2018) New Haven, CT (2019) Canceled (2020–2021) Boston, MA (2022) | |
The tournament follows a single-elimination format that involves the top four schools in the standings at the end of the regular season. Two semifinal games are held on the first day (Saturday) with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed playing the No. 3 seed, followed by the championship game played the next day (Sunday). This schedule format mimics much of the conference season, where road trips usually consist of two games at two sites on Fridays and Saturdays (or Saturdays and Sundays) to minimize time spent out of classes. As such, the tournament has the tagline "The Ultimate Back-To-Back". The tournament's winner receives the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
The team or teams that finish with the best record after the 14-game regular-season conference schedule will continue to be recognized as Ivy League champion.[1] A regular-season champion that fails to win the tournament will be invited to the National Invitation Tournament, per NCAA policy on regular season champions, should they fail to receive an NCAA bid.
Prior to the tournament, the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament was awarded to the conference champion as determined by the regular season standings. In the event of a tie between two teams a one-game playoff was used to determine which team would receive the league bid to the NCAA tournament. This happened on eight occasions. In 2001–02, a three-team, two game tournament was held when three teams tied for the league title.
The first two tournaments (2017 and 2018) were held at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. The 2019 tournament was held at Yale University. On February 27, 2019 the Ivy League announced that the tournament will continue to rotate annually through the remaining member schools through 2025. The 2020 tournament was to be held at Harvard, but due to COVID-19, that year's tournament was canceled and league champion Yale was awarded the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.[2] Following years will be hosted by Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth and Columbia.[3] The Ivy League canceled its entire 2020–21 season due to continued COVID-19 concerns. The tournament resumed in 2022.
Tournament champions
| Year | Champion | Seed | Score | Runner-up | Seed | MVP | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Princeton | 1 | 71–59 | Yale | 3 | Myles Stephens, Princeton | Palestra (Philadelphia, PA) |
| 2018 | Penn | 1 | 68–65 | Harvard | 2 | A. J. Brodeur, Penn | Palestra (Philadelphia, PA) |
| 2019 | Yale | 2 | 97–85 | Harvard | 1 | Alex Copeland, Yale | John J. Lee Amphitheater (New Haven, CT) |
| 2020 | None† | — | — | — | — | — | Lavietes Pavilion (Boston, MA) |
| 2021 | None†† | — | — | — | — | — | Jadwin Gymnasium (Princeton, NJ) |
| 2022 | Yale | 2 | 66–64 | Princeton | 1 | Azar Swain, Yale | Lavietes Pavilion (Boston, MA) |
| 2023 | Princeton | 2 | 74–65 | Yale | 1 | Tosan Evbuomwan, Princeton | Jadwin Gymnasium (Princeton, NJ) |
| 2024 | Pizzitola Sports Center (Providence, RI) | ||||||
| 2025 | Newman Arena (Ithaca, NY) | ||||||
| 2026 | Leede Arena (Hanover, NH) | ||||||
| 2027 | Levien Gymnasium (New York, NY) |
† Yale was awarded the conference's automatic bid after the Ivy League Tournament was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. According to Ivy League policy, the first-place team in the regular season is deemed the league champion.[4]
†† The Ivy League cancelled all winter athletics for the 2020–21 season on November 12, 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6]
Tournament championships by school
| Team | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Yale | 2 | 2019, 2022 |
| Princeton | 2 | 2017, 2023 |
| Penn | 1 | 2018 |
Ivy League Tournament appearances
| Team | Bids | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Penn | 6 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,‡ 2022, 2023 |
| Yale | 6 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,‡ 2022, 2023 |
| Princeton | 5 | 2017, 2019, 2020,‡ 2022, 2023 |
| Harvard | 4 | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020‡ |
| Cornell | 3 | 2018, 2022, 2023 |
‡ The 2020 Ivy League Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19, but Harvard's, Penn's, Yale's, and Princeton's qualifications for the tournament are still counted toward all-time tournament appearances.
NCAA Tournament appearances
Prior to the introduction of the Ivy League Tournament in 2017 the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament was awarded to the Ivy League Champion as determined by the regular season standings. In the event of a tie a playoff was held to determine the bid recipient. However, the league title is still shared.
| Appearances | School | Last appearance | Last win | Last Sweet 16 | Last Elite 8 | Last Final 4 | Last final | Last championship | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | Princeton | 2023 | 2023 | 2023 | 1965 | 1965 | 15–29 | ||
| 24 | Pennsylvania | 2018 | 1994 | 1979 | 1979 | 1979 | 13–26 | ||
| 7 | Dartmouth | 1959 | 1958 | 1958 | 1958 | 1944 | 1944 | 10–7 | |
| 5 | Yale | 2022 | 2016 | 1–6 | |||||
| 5 | Cornell | 2010 | 2010 | 2010 | 2–6 | ||||
| 5 | Harvard | 2015 | 2014 | 2–6 | |||||
| 3 | Columbia | 1968 | 1968 | 1968 | 2–4 | ||||
| 2 | Brown | 1986 | 1939 | 0–2 | |||||
| Total: 76 | 43-85 |
References
- "The Ivy League Adds Men's, Women's Basketball Tournaments Beginning in 2017". Ivy League. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- "Ivy League Cancels Basketball Tournaments, Limits Spectators in All Sporting Events".
- "Ivy Madness Headed to Harvard in 2020, League Announces Pre-Determined Campus Rotation". Retrieved 2 March 2019.
- "The Ivy League Adds Men's, Women's Basketball Tournaments Beginning in 2017". Ivy League. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- Borzello, Jeff (November 12, 2020). "Ivy League cancels winter sports season, delays spring play". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
- "Ivy League Outlines Intercollegiate Athletics Plans; No Competition for Winter Sports" (Press release). Ivy League. November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.