Life of Brian: Ivy League Needs a Tourney

Who needs a conference tournament?

That was the question put forth-rather smugly, in retrospect-on the Princeton athletics web site two weeks ago. At the time, the Ivy League men's basketball season was entering its final full weekend with four teams still mathematically in contention for the league title.

As it turned out, though, the Ivy championship once again came down to Penn and Princeton's final meeting of the year, which is perennially scheduled ever-so-pompously for the Tuesday after every other Ivy school wraps up its season. The Tigers ended up beating the Quakers, 68-52, earning them the Ivy's automatic bid to this year's NCAA Tournament.

Princeton will now face the No. 5 team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels, in the opening round of the Big Dance. Barring an upset of titanic proportions, the Tigers will likely be easily dismissed, much like Penn the past two years.

And that early exit will conclude yet another frustrating year in Ivy men's hoops, where-unless your school begins with a 'P'-the battle is always for third place.

Does anyone else see something wrong with this picture?

Right now, Ivy League basketball is staler than former Princeton star Bill Bradley on the campaign trail. It's true that the league was more competitive this year than in the past, but it was once again Princeton and Penn finishing atop the standings. Both teams were the most vulnerable they've been in recent years and both of them still finished above the rest.

Nonetheless, some people will point to this year's apparent league parity as justification for not having a tournament. But even if this year's regular season title was highly-contested, so what? Regular seasons are supposed to be competitive. It's only because the Ivy League has been so starved for parity for so many years that this season seemed something special.

And yet here is Princeton asking who needs a conference tournament. Easy for them to say.

Maybe the Tigers and their blowhards should open their eyes to what is going on around the rest of college basketball. If they did, they would find that when it comes to postseason tourneys, the Ivy League is by far the exception and not the rule.

The Big East, Big West and Big South all have one. So do the MAC, the SWAC, and the WAC. The Atlantic-10 has had one for 25 years, the Big Ten adopted one three years ago, and as of next season, the PAC-10 will finally boast of one as well.

This means that, as of 2002, the Ivy League will be the only conference in Division I college basketball that receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but does not have a conference tourney to decide who gets it.

In other words, 30 of the 31 major athletic conferences in America have decided they need a conference tournament.

But not the Ivy League. Nope. Princeton says we don't need one. Penn would probably say the same. With the Killer P's exerting such a stranglehold on the rest of the league every year, it's no wonder they don't see a need for a conference tournament. They have the most to lose from one.

Well, too bad. The Ivy's automatic bid to the tournament is no one's birthright. And this league needs some shaking up.

The argument most frequently presented in defense of the status quo is

that a tournament would undermine the importance of the regular season. Granted, it is probably true that no athletic conference in the country has a more important regular season than the Ivy League.

But what good is a regular season anyway when it produces no surprises, no tournament success, and no long-term development? In this sense, the Ivy League probably has the most meaninglessly "meaningful" regular season in college basketball.

What about the importance of a postseason? Conference tournaments reward the teams who are peaking at the right time. And, more importantly, the games are exciting-not to mention significant. Harvard's upset over Penn last month was thrilling, but what does it mean at this point in the year? Had the game come in the context of a league tournament, then it might have actually meant something.

While Penn and Princeton may have the advantage over the course of an entire season, any Ivy League team can still win on any given night.

That's exactly why Penn and Princeton fear a postseason tournament. But for the sake of Ivy basketball, that is something the league must exploit. In terms of NCAA performance, the league could do no worse than it does now. Anyone can go to the tournament and lose, which is all Penn has done the past two years.

On the other hand, the league has everything to gain from a postseason tournament. Conference tourneys produce more tested, battle-ready teams and provide much more momentum going into the NCAA Tournament.

Consider this example--in the three years before the Big Ten started playing a conference tournament in 1998, the record of its member teams competing in the NCAA Tournament was 10-17. In the three years since, that record has jumped to 35-17.

In terms of exposure, a championship tournament translates into instant publicity.

Take a look at the Patriot League. The conference is only ten years old and is 0-9 all-time in the NCAA Tourney, but the league is making strides thanks to its postseason tournament. This year, the league had all of its tournament games televised, including the championship game, which was carried by ESPN. That type of national coverage is what attracts the blue-chip recruits.

When it comes to competing with the top-tier level schools in major college basketball, the Ivy League is already at a disadvantage because it does not award athletic scholarships. Adopting a postseason conference tournament is one way that the league can compete with the other major athletic conferences, as well as bring about long-term parity among its eight member teams.

So who needs a conference tournament?

The Ivy League does. Badly.