Ivy Tournament Would Lead to More NIT Berths

Weeks ago, the field was set. There were a few twists and turns along the way—a few upsets, a Cinderella run, and a lot of excitement—but in the end, the number one overall seed came out on top. No, I’m not being clairvoyant about the upcoming NCAA Final Four. I’m actually doing quite the opposite—recapping Ohio State’s drive to the 2008 National Invitational Tournament Championship.

It’s probably fair to assume that well over 90 percent of this University had absolutely no clue that the NIT was going on, let alone that the semifinals and finals were held a mere subway ride away at the illustrious Madison Square Garden. The NIT may be ridiculed by most as the Not In Tournament, but I’ve always been a fan. My sports geekiness may be showing, but I’m unabashed, as NIT action is usually the closest I can get to postseason college hoops.

While the Big Dance is where dynasties are made, NBA superstars prefigured, and Cinderella dances past midnight, the NIT is the arena for up-and-coming teams to get postseason experience and prepare to make a run at the NCAA Tournament the next year.

Let’s go back and look at last year’s NIT Final Four. Of the four teams that made it—Air Force, Mississippi State, Clemson, and champion West Virginia—three earned trips to the NCAA Tournament this year, with the Mountaineers knocking off Duke en route to a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. If last year is any indicator, this year’s semifinalists stand a chance at using their postseason experience to join the field of 65 for next years’ tournament.

One might expect that, in a tournament filled with teams that did not win their conference tournaments, mid-majors looking for a chance to prove their abilities, and young teams trying to make names for themselves, the Ivy League would fit the mold on a somewhat regular basis—at least that’s what I thought. However, in 71 years, only eight Ivy teams have been in the NIT, compiling an overall record of 8-7.
Princeton has gone five of those eight times and even won the tournament in 1975. Interestingly enough, Penn has only been to the NIT once, which occurred in 1981. Brown and Yale are the other two teams that have been in the NIT field, with Yale garnering the only NIT win of any Ivy League team not named Princeton.

The Ivy League has been in a five-year drought since Brown made the NIT in 2003. But with an Ivy League conference tournament, everything could change in terms of Ivy League teams playing in the NIT.

A lot of people have their opinions about an Ivy League conference tournament, but I’m going to attack the puzzle by focusing on the benefits of getting a team into the NIT more often. You see, if a team wins its conference’s regular season championship, but does not earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament that comes with winning its conference tournament and does not get selected to the NCAA Tournament, it gets an automatic bid to the NIT.

This means that the best team in the Ivy League during the regular season would still be rewarded, even if it faltered in the conference tournament. In Ivy League women’s basketball this year, there was a three-team tournament to decide the league’s automatic bid, and by nature of beating Harvard in the first round, Dartmouth earned at least a bid to the NIT, no matter what happened in its game against Cornell (the Big Green got demolished, for those of you who are interested).

On the men’s side, two teams in the postseason—I don’t count Brown playing in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational this year, as that “tournament” is a sad excuse for March Madness—provide a greater degree of recognition for the league. If the team that wins the regular season wins the conference tournament, then there is no problem, as it will move on to the NCAA Tournament a little more battle-tested than it had been. If that team loses and another earns the automatic bid, many good things happen for the marketing of the league.

The first is that the Ivy League championship game would be televised nationally as part of Championship Week, which will give the country a chance to catch a glimpse of what the Ivy League has to offer in terms of athletics. Next, if the team with the best regular season record loses, two teams will make national tournaments, which are televised nationally on CBS and on the ESPN family of networks. With two teams competing, there is a greater chance for success, either on the smaller level of the NIT or the huge bracket-shaking level of the NCAA Tournament.

In terms of the level of play in the Ivy League, a postseason conference tournament and the chance to have two teams in postseason national tournaments will provide the league with better parity on a yearly basis, which is always good for competition. Individual players might have better athletic experiences at perennially underachieving schools if they can make a run at the NCAA Tournament, and at schools where athletic spirit lags, a postseason tournament could light the spark that fuels a fire of support.

I know the Ivy League loves having the first team earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament and hates the idea of having players take time from their classes for a postseason conference tournament, but aren’t athletics all about the best team winning and rewarding those that deserve to be rewarded? Sometimes the best team isn’t the one that wins the most games in the regular season, it’s the one that found its niche halfway through. The one that wins the regular season should be rewarded if it gives way to this team on the rise, and that’s where the NIT comes in.

It’s not a consolation prize, it’s a reward—one that the Ivy League hasn’t been adequately offering to its teams.