Let The Games Begin

The Ivy League Basketball Tournament Schedule
 

Today
Women's semifinal - No. 1 Princeton vs. No. 4 Penn, 4:30
Women's semifinal - No. 2 Columbia vs. No. 3 Harvard, 7

Tomorrow
Men's semifinal - No. 1 Yale vs. No. 4 Cornell, 11 a.m.
Men's semifinal - No. 2 Princeton vs. No. 3 Penn, approximately 1:30 (30 minutes after the end of the first game)
Women's final - Princeton/Penn winner vs. Columbia/Harvard winner, 5

Sunday
Men's final - Yale/Cornell winner vs. Princeton/Penn winner, noon

For all of the times that TigerBlog has written "when the Ivy tournament comes to Jadwin" this winter, the day is finally here.

Just to keep in mind, the tournament determines only the Ivy League's two automatic NCAA tournament bids, not the league champions. Those have already been determined. 

On the women's side, that means Princeton and Columbia. On the men's side, that means Princeton and Yale.

Princeton's athletic staff, in conjunction with the staff from the Ivy League office, has been busy all week resetting Jadwin to be as neutral a site as possible. There's a different feel in the building than for a normal lead up to a weekend of basketball here.

For two of the eight teams who are here, or possibly three, the tournament will lead into the NCAA tournament Selection Shows Sunday night. From there, the real Madness of March begins, with the NCAA tournament.

Yesterday in Jadwin was a day of shootarounds and interviews for the women's teams. Today it's the men's turn, before the women's games begin.

.@LexiWeger mic'd up at Live From #IvyMadness! 🎤

Tune in ⬇️https://t.co/2Z5sABk6qr#GetStops 🐯🏀 pic.twitter.com/6QElssDplb

— Princeton WBB (@PrincetonWBB) March 9, 2023

The Ivy tournament is a relatively new phenomenon, with this only the fifth all-time. TB actually was wondering yesterday how the history of Ivy League basketball might have been different had there been tournaments like this one back in the 1980s or 1990s or beyond. 

Some of the most legendary moments in league history might never have happened. Yesterday TB mentioned how the 1996 Tigers came within a hair of not even making the playoff game against Penn. How about 1989, the year Princeton almost beat No. 1 Georgetown.

Had there been a tournament then, the matchups in the first round would have been Princeton-Harvard and Penn-Dartmouth. Princeton split with all three of them that season. What would have happened in the tournament? That's anyone's guess.

Would the Princeton-Georgetown game ever happened? Also, that's anyone's guess.

Basketball may be taking center stage here this weekend, but it's not the only game in town, or out of town for that matter. There are other really big events. 

None is bigger than the NCAA track and field championships, which are being held in Albuquerque this weekend. Princeton is sending three men to compete: Greg Foster in the long jump, Sam Rodman in the 800 meters and Sondre Guttormsen in the pole vault. You can get more information, including when and how to watch, HERE.

Guttormsen is the defending NCAA indoor and outdoor pole vault champ. He's also in the top five in the world this winter and was a 2021 Norwegian Olympian. His brother Simen, who finished fourth indoors and outdoors last year, is missing the meet this year due to injury.

TB had a chance to meet the two Guttormsen brothers for the first time and to write a story about them, which you can read HERE. TB learned a lot about the pole vault, which is a wild event.

Also in the postseason realm, the men's hockey team has its quarterfinal ECAC playoff series at Harvard. The Tigers, who defeated Union last week in the opening round, will play tonight, tomorrow night and if necessary Sunday night in the best-of-three. 

The NCAA fencing regionals will be held tomorrow at Lafayette. It's also the start of spring break, so the baseball, softball and women's water polo teams are taking to the road. 

If you're coming to basketball and are going to get here early today, there's a women's lacrosse game against 20th-ranked USC that starts on Sherrerd Field at noon. If you're going to be here all weekend, you can see Princeton's men's lacrosse team head to No. 6 Rutgers Saturday at 1 in the 100th meeting between the schools.

The complete schedule is HERE.

And with that ... let the games begin.