Ivy League football teams don’t have the chance to compete for a national championship thanks to a rule that was instituted in the 1940s, but that could end up changing in the near future now that the conference is reportedly considering reversing a ban that doesn’t really make any sense in the first place.
The eight schools that comprise the Ivy League are a huge afterthought in the current college football landscape, but they were the teams to beat in the early days of the sport.
Princeton actually has more national championship claims than any other program in college football history with the 28 it racked up between 1869 and 1950, and Yale comes in second with 27 (Alabama is currently in a somewhat distant third with 18).
However, the Ivy League took the wind out of its own sails in 1945 when its institutions agreed to a pact that banned athletic scholarships that also contained language that states teams “shall not engage in post season games or any other contests designed to settle sectional or other championships.”
There is an exemption for NCAA championships, and while football teams could theoretically take advantage of a loophole that’s harnessed by literally every other sport under the Ivy League umbrella, the season comes to a firm end on the day Harvard and Yale face off in their annual rivalry game at the end of November.
The Ivy League does get an automatic bid to the FCS Championship each year, but it’s a formality that’s officially declined by the conference once it’s extended. However, that may not be the case for much longer.
According to The Harvard Crimson, the Ivy League Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has floated a proposal to rescind the postseason ban after close to eight decades. Its institution hinges on a three-step approval process, as it would need to get the blessing of athletic directors prior to going through a policy committee that would subsequently forward it to school presidents for a final vote.
The primary argument against the reversal of the ban is (somewhat predictably) concerns that the postseason would interfere with players’ ability to adequately prepare for exams at the end of the semester, but based on what Brown captain Jake Willcox told the student newspaper, he doesn’t believe it would be much of a burden (Harvard coach Andrew Aurich also threw his support behind the measure).
There’s currently no firm timeline for the potential approval of the proposal, so we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.
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Ivy League Football Teams May Finally Get To Compete In The Playoffs After An 80-Year Ban
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