The Ivy League Tournament is an annual college basketball tournament taking place since 2016 and is exclusively composed of the member schools of the Ivy League. The tournament's crowning event is the League's Ivy League Basketball Championship Game, which is held annually at The Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The Ivies began holding the tournament after the Ivy League became the first Division I conference to eliminate the position of head coach in favor of a team- and player-led model. The tournament is unique in many ways, with one of the most notable being that the participants are student-athletes and it is administered entirely by the schools' athletic departments and student groups. Additionally, the tournament largely operates independent of other popular college basketball tournaments and is not a part of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.
The 2018 Ivy League Tournament marked the first time in league history that the tournament was held in a separate venue from The Palestra spring semester. It was held at the Lee Amphitheater at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Historically, the tournament has been held in mid-March and follows a March Madness-style format. The winner of the tournament is awarded an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament.
The tournament involves the men's and women's basketball teams from the eight schools that make up the Ivy League. All teams play in the same double-elimination bracket and the top four seeds earn a first-round bye. Each round consists of a single-elimination, winner-takes-all matchup. Both tournaments feature a championship team that is crowned the Ivy League Champion.
At the men's tournament, the automatic bid winner is determined by the programs' performance over the regular-season schedule. At the women's tournament, a selection committee chooses the participant after considering the teams' records. The selection committee is composed of university presidents and athletic directors.
Although the Ivy League Tournament is not as well-known as many other college basketball tournaments, it has become an increasingly popular event among student-athletes, fans and college basketball enthusiasts. Last year, the men's tournament was sold out and more than 4,000 tickets were sold for the championship game. All of the college hoops enthusiasts embraced the chance to watch the best teams from the Ivy League battle it out for the title of Ivy League Champion.
The 2020 tournament will be back at The Palestra in Philadelphia and it's sure to be an exciting event as the Ivy League teams compete for the conference championship. Whether you're a fan looking to watch some top-notch college basketball or you're a student-athlete looking to end the season on a positive note, the Ivy League Tournament is sure to provide an exciting and unique basketball experience.