Coaches push for four-team end-of-the-year tournament

There may finally be an Ivy League tournament coming to a gym near you.

According to a report in the Harvard Crimson on Friday night, Ivy coaches are preparing a proposal for four-team single-elimination tournament. Currently, the Ivy League is the only conference where the regular season champion earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, but the addition of a tournament would surely change that.

The proposal is still in its early stages. After being constructed, it must be sent to athletic director's around the Ivies for approval before being passed on to a policy committee. Finally, all eight university presidents must vote on the change.

According to Philly.com's Jonathan Tannenwald, the change would require the elimination of one game from non-conference play.

The change would have other important postseason implications. By instituting a tournament, the winner of the regular season would, by NCAA regulations, compete in the NIT.

Last season, the Ancient Eight saw a record four teams play in the postseason. Harvard was a 12th-seed in the NCAA tournament and lost to Vanderbilt in the first round. Penn and Princeton, both made the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational, respectively. Yale lost in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

A tournament would also mean greater visibility nationally, as well as important source of revenue. In 2011, Harvard and Princeton played a one-game playoff that ended in a Douglas Davis buzzer-beater as Princeton won, 63-62. That game was watched by 54,449 viewers on ESPN's online streaming channel and led ESPN's SportsCenter the following day.

This year, a number of games were broadcast on ESPN3, the network's streaming portal. Penn's upset of Havard on Feb. 25, Harvard's win over Cornell on Mar. 3 and Penn's defeat at the hands of Princeton on Mar. 6 were just some of the Ivy games broadcast this year.

Needless today say, the end of this year provided its own dramatics and was a major factor of why coaches favor a touranment. Until the final weekend of the season, four teams still had a mathematical chance to win or share the Ivy Title.

Princeton finished its regular season winning eight of nine and Penn won seven straight before falling to Princeton in its final regular season game.