This happens every year. Every sore loser around comes out of the woodwork to say we should have it. I got an email from another do-gooder yesterday imploring me to investigate this glaring oversight.
So, new rule: No more talking about a postseason tournament for the Ivy League. It’s not going to happen. Nor should it. Look at the Cornell squad that went 14-0 and might have a good chance of beating a four-seed and tell me you wouldn’t want that team in the Dance 100 percent of the time.
I was disappointed to read the Harvard Crimson whining about this dead issue again a few days ago. I won’t rehash the arguments except to say enough already. The Ivies don’t have a tournament and the league is the better for it. No one sneaks into the postseason through the back door. If you want to get to the Tournament, try building a program, and no, cheating doesn’t count.
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March 15th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
its unclear to me why buzz bloggers are allowed to discuss/complain about everything from ivy league recruiting practices to the all-ivy league honorable mention and then demand a moratorium on conference tournament talk. i happen to agree that a conference tournament is in no way necessary for the success of the conference, but i think there is certainly a point to be made that a conference tournament could, under the right circumstances (which, i admit, would be rare), put 2 teams from the conference into the ncaa tournament — note that in 2 years cornell, penn, and maybe even harvard will all have programs capable playing on that level. so whine all you want about discussion of the subject, but the fact remains that lack of a tournament may put a lower ceiling on the league’s success than having one.
is a conference tournament any more of a “dead issue” than limited athletic scholarships? way to shoot down new ideas in support of the status quo.
March 15th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
People can hype up teams all they want, but the league isn’t getting two teams into the tournament. The one time the conference realistically could have gotten an at-large bid was when Princeton earned a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament. If someone had beaten them in the conference tourney, the Tigers would have dropped significantly because of the bad loss, and would no longer have been a favorite to win in the first round, while the other team would grab a 15-seed. Even in that rare scenario, it’s not great for the conference. And come one, I’d rather see Cornell play in the tourney than Yale.
March 15th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
JL, that’s ridiculous. Cornell, Penn and Harvard all at an at-large NCAA tournament level within 2 years. Give me a break. If even 1 of those teams achieves that level it will be a miracle.
March 15th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
fair enough. i admit that 2 ivies in the tournament is unlikely — but without a tournament, its impossible. see wheeling’s post above — the league could have had 2 teams in the big dance as recently as 1998. when was the last time that 2 ivies made it under the current system?
April 15th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
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