One of the most exciting times of the year for any sports fan is March, when college basketball is in full force with conference tournaments and then the NCAA tournament. Conference tournaments are great because they are like a new beginning for many programs, as they all have a chance to make it to the big dance regardless of whether they had a great regular season or a bad one. This is true for all conferences except one, the Ivy League, but that might be changing as soon as 2016-17, according to Gary Parrish of CBS Sports.
The report states that Ivy League officials are seriously considering creating a conference tournament that would be in place starting next season. It is not set in stone that it will happen, but a source told Parrish that "It's definitely on the table, and it looks like it's going to happen." Ivy League university presidents are expected to vote on this issue at some point later this month, and although many expect that it will pass, it is not a formality.
Sources close to the Ivy League believe it is closer than it has ever been to getting a conference tournament and that it would be a surprise at this point if it didn't happen. The Ivy League has stayed away from adding a conference tournament for a long time, but now it sees the opportunity for more exposure and to get a championship game on national TV as something it is comfortable with. At this point it is unknown how the tournament would be formatted, but it is not 100 percent certain that all eight schools would be involved.
As of now, the Ivy League gives its automatic NCAA tournament bid to the school with the best conference record at the end of the season. There are people that would argue that that is the right way to do it and that it rewards teams for a season full of great play instead of one week, but by not having a tournament, the Ivy League has been missing out on a lot of revenue opportunities. Also, conference tournaments are an exciting part of the college basketball season, so despite the fact that the best team might not get in every year, there will be significantly more buzz around the Ivy League if it does indeed add a conference tournament.
