Ivy League NCAA Tournament Betting
For the first time in three years, we will have an Ivy League Tournament to send one of the eight teams in this conference to the NCAA Tournament. The 2020 and 2021 Ivy League Tournaments were canceled due to COVID, and schools like Yale and Princeton are looking to make up for lost time. Yale and Princeton are clearly the two best teams in the conference this season, and either the Bulldogs or Tigers will likely be part of March Madness.
Princeton will be the No. 1 seed in the Ivy League Tournament no matter what happens in the Tigers’ season finale against Pennsylvania. This team knocked off South Carolina in its first game against a Division I opponent, and Princeton has won 17 of its last 19 games overall at this point. This is one of the most efficient offenses in the country as the Tigers rank seventh nationally in effective field goal percentage, but they have been uncharacteristically bad at getting to the free throw line and sinking their freebies. Tosan Evbuomwan is the top player on Princeton with 15.1 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 4.9 APG.
Yale was one of the teams that knocked off Princeton earlier this season. The Bulldogs don’t do anything particularly well, but they have decent guard play with Azar Swain and Jalen Gabbidon on the perimeter. Three-point shooting has been a major problem though, and Yale is making just 32.6% of its threes as a team.
The other two teams taking part in the Ivy League Tournament will be Pennsylvania and Cornell. The Quakers are one game behind Yale and are locked into that game with the Bulldogs, while the Big Red must take on the Tigers.
Ivy League Tournament Format
The Ivy League has moved to a conference tournament, but in keeping with Ivy tradition, the invitee list is very exclusive. Only the top four teams in the regular season will take part in the conference tournament, leaving the bottom half of the conference out in the cold.
The four teams that finish atop the conference in the regular season must win two games in two days to make it to the NCAA Tournament. It's not like that's anything all that unusual for the Ivy Leaguers though. They're used to playing games on Friday and Saturday in the regular season, so playing once on Saturday afternoon and once on Sunday afternoon won't be anything out of the ordinary.
In an effort to promote parity, the conference tournament will be held on all eight campuses over the next eight years. The first two Ivy League Conference Tournaments took place at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the 2019 edition was on Yale’s campus.
The 2022 Ivy League Tournament will take place on March 12-13 from Harvard’s Lavietes Pavilion in Boston, Massachusetts.
Most Wins All-Time in Ivy League Tournament
| WINS |
TEAM |
LAST |
| 1 |
Yale |
2019 |
| 1 |
Penn |
2018 |
| 1 |
Princeton |
2017 |
Princeton has already etched its name in college sports history as one of the two teams involved in the first-ever college football game back in 1869, and the Tigers added to their legacy by winning the first Ivy League Tournament in 2017. They were heavy favorites heading into the inaugural Ivy League Tournament after a 14-0 regular season, and they defeated Penn and Yale to claim the conference’s automatic bid. Princeton was seen as a dangerous No. 12 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament, and the Tigers nearly knocked off Notre Dame before falling 60-58.
Penn and Harvard were the top two teams in the Ivy League throughout the 2017-18 season, and it was destiny that they meet in the title game. Harvard crushed Cornell in the semifinals 74-55 and Penn hammered Yale 80-57 to set up the match-up, but the Quakers had the advantage in the final. They were playing a home game at the Palestra, and they used the home crowd’s energy to edge the Crimson 68-65. Despite a solid regular season, Penn was given no respect by the Selection Committee, and the Quakers were installed as a No. 16 seed despite a 24-8 record. We all know how that story goes unless you’re UMBC.
Harvard was the No. 1 seed yet again entering the 2019 Ivy League Tournament, but the Crimson fell to the No. 2 seed in the final once more. In a surprisingly high-scoring game, Yale beat Harvard 97-85 to claim the Ivy League crown. The Elis fell short in the NCAA Tournament though, falling to LSU 79-74.
Penn, Yale, and Harvard have qualified for the Ivy League Tournament in each of the competition’s first three seasons, but Brown, Columbia, and Dartmouth have yet to make an appearance in the tournament.
Ivy League Tournament Championship Games
| YEAR |
WINNER |
RUNNER-UP |
VENUE |
| 2019 |
Yale |
Harvard |
John J. Lee Ampitheater |
| 2018 |
Penn |
Harvard |
The Palestra |
| 2017 |
Princeton |
Yale |
The Palestra |
NCAA Basketball Conferences
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