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
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceIvy League
Number of teams4
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumLevien Gymnasium (2024)
Current locationNew York, NY (2024)
Played2017–2019, 2022–present
Last contest2024
Current championYale Bulldogs
Most championshipsYale (3)
TV partner(s)ESPNU, ESPN2
Official websiteWebsite
Host stadiums
Palestra (2017–2018)
John J. Lee Amphitheater (2019)
Canceled (2020–2021)
Lavietes Pavilion (2022)
Jadwin Gymnasium (2023)
Levien Gymnasium (2024)
Host locations
Philadelphia, PA (2017–2018)
New Haven, CT (2019)
Canceled (2020–2021)
Boston, MA (2022)
Princeton, NJ (2023)
New York, NY (2024)

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]

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 would continue to be held at a predetermined site, rotating annually through the remaining member schools through 2025 in the following order: Harvard, Princeton, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth and Columbia.[2] Due to the COVID-19, the 2020 tournament due to be held at Harvard was canceled and league champion Yale was awarded the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.[3] The Ivy League canceled its entire 2020–21 season due to continued COVID-19 concerns. The tournament resumed in 2022 and was hosted by Harvard, followed by Princeton in 2023. In February 2023 the Ivy League announced it would be deviating from the previously announced order and that Columbia would host the 2024 tournament rather than Brown.[4] In February 2024 the Ivy League announced another schedule change. Brown will host in 2025, Cornell in 2026 and Dartmouth in 2027. [5]

Tournament champions

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Year Champion Seed Score Runner-up Seed MVP Venue
2017 Princeton 1 71–59 Yale 3 Myles Stephens, Princeton Palestra (Philadelphia, PA)
2018 Penn 2 68–65 Harvard 1 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 Yale 2 62–61 Brown 4 Danny Wolf, Yale Levien Gymnasium (New York, NY)
2025 Pizzitola Sports Center (Providence, RI)
2026 Newman Arena (Ithaca, NY)
2027 Leede Arena (Hanover, NH)

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.[6]

†† The Ivy League cancelled all winter athletics for the 2020–21 season on November 12, 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.[7][8]

Tournament championships by school

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Team Winners Years
Yale 3 2019, 2022, 2024
Princeton 2 2017, 2023
Penn 1 2018

Ivy League Tournament appearances

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Team Bids Years
Yale 6 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
Penn 5 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
Princeton 5 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
Cornell 4 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024
Harvard 3 2017, 2018, 2019
Brown 1 2024

‡ The 2020 Ivy League Tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

NCAA Tournament appearances

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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
7 Yale 2024 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

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  1. ^ "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.
  2. ^ "Ivy Madness Headed to Harvard in 2020, League Announces Pre-Determined Campus Rotation". 27 February 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Ivy League Cancels Basketball Tournaments, Limits Spectators in All Sporting Events". 10 March 2020.
  4. ^ "2024 Ivy League Tournaments moved from Brown to Columbia". 9 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Ivy League Announces Next Three Sites for Ivy Madness; Headed to Providence in 2025". 26 February 2024.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Borzello, Jeff (November 12, 2020). "Ivy League cancels winter sports season, delays spring play". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  8. ^ "Ivy League Outlines Intercollegiate Athletics Plans; No Competition for Winter Sports" (Press release). Ivy League. November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2021.