The story of the conferences-Ivy League

Linked by a common bond of academic excellence, strong research capabilities, and roots in pre-revolution America, the Ivy League is without question, the most prestigious collection of universites in the world, not just this country. Naturally you would think that these schools would have their fingerprints on athletics, right, well yes, historically. These days, the Ivy League, or Ivy Group, is an inconsistent mid-major league, but in the early days of organized university athletics, they were the major power conference of it's time. Most of it centered on football, but they were pretty good at hoops too.

The Early Years

In 1900, Nine years after Dr. James Naismith created the sport of basketball at today's Springfield College, Harvard and Yale joined with four other highly prestigious schools; Amherst, Holy Cross, Trinity College, and Williams to form the New England Inter-Collegiate Basketball League, the first recognized association of universities formed to played basketball. It lasted all of one season, when the Bulldogs and Crimson left to form a new association with Columbia, Cornell, and Princeton; calling it the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League. The basic structure of the league called for all members to play each other, twice during the season. Soon after, champions of this league started arranging championship playoffs with the Western Conference(today's Big Ten). These lasted only a few years before it was ended(mostly due to travel, but also for two seasons, the EIBL did not play a league schedule). In the meantime, Pennsylvania joined for 1904, followed by Harvard's withdrawal after 1909, and Dartmouth joined in 1912. It would remain at six until 1934, when Harvard returned.

Enter the Ivy
For 1953-54, Brown was finally persuaded to join the EIBL, but that was a precursor of things to come, for in the spring of 1954, the eight schools agreed to combine all their athletic pursuits into a single all-sports alliance, the Ivy League. Thus, 1955 was the last year for the EIBL. There has not been a change in membership since.

Doing things differently
Today, the Ivy League does several things differently than anyother league within Division I. For instance:
*The league is the only one not to conduct a postseason tournament, due to academic schedules. To compensate, in years where there is a tie for first, a one game, neutral-site, playoff is held.
*It also does not award any athletic scholarships of any kind. All scholarships are awarded on need, only.
*It also schedules games, again for academic reasons, only on Fridays and Saturdays, save for the Penn-Princeton games, which are played on Tuesdays.

Success
In the Helms Foundation period of national championships, the Ivy recorded several national titles. Columbia won three of these(1904, 1905, 1910), while Yale(1901 and 1903) and Penn(1920 and 1921) won twice, and Princeton won it in 1925. Dartmouth won it in 1906, but were not an EIBL member during that period.
Since the NCAA tournament era began in 1939, no Ivy League school has won, although Dartmouth came closest, twice, finishing runner-up in 1942 and 1944. Since 1951, Princeton came the closest, finishing third in 1965 behind the play of Bill Bradley, while Penn placed 4th in 1979. The Tigers are the only school to take home an National Invitational Tournament title, winning the 1975 crown.

Stability
Very strong. Except for a brief period in the late 1940's and early 1950's when Penn looked to breakaway due to issues with the televising of football games, the Ivies have remained locked together in the longest running conference configuration. With the exception of Cornell, which came along in 1865, all members can trace their roots to pre-revolution America. In short, don't look for anyone to join, or leave, the Ivy League as long as it exists.

The story of the conferences-Intro post

Welcome to a new series of posts detailing(in basketball terms) with the stories of the 52 historically recognized conferences of NCAA Division I. Each post details the whos and whens of membership, their historical success, and their prospects for future growth and stability. I'll detail each and every conference in order of creation, going from the Ivy League to the Great West. So sit back and enjoy this series.

Predicting the finish-The Bracket

Sorry for the long delay on the bracket. It was finished a few days ago, but forgot to put it up because I was too busy. So, let's get to it.

Final Four Pairings
Midwest(1) vs. West(4)
South(2) vs. East(3)

The First Four
(UD Arena; Dayton, OH; University of Dayton)

March 13th
Game 1: Wagner(Northeast) vs. Alabama State(Southwestern)
Game 2: Brigham Young vs. Cincinnati
March 14th
Game 1: South Dakota State(Summit) vs. UNC Asheville(Big South)
Game 2: Creighton vs. Mississippi State

MIDWEST Region
(Edward Jones Dome; St. Louis; Missouri Valley Conference)

@ Consol Energy Center; Pittsburgh; Duquesne University
1-Ohio State(Big Ten) vs. 16-Wagner/Alabama State
8-New Mexico(Mountain West) vs. 9-Florida State
@ Rose Garden Arena; Portland; University of Oregon
4-Wichita State vs. 13-North Texas(Sun Belt)
5-Vanderbilt vs. 12-Utah State(Western Athletic)
@ The Pit; Albuquerque; University of New Mexico
2-Baylor(Big 12) vs. 15-Lamar(Southland)
7-Washington vs. 10-Marquette
@ Nationwide Arena; Columbus; Ohio State University
3-Pittsburgh vs. 14-Western Michigan(Mid-American)
6-Temple(Atlantic 10) vs. 11-Northwestern

WEST Region
US Airways Center; Phoenix; Arizona State University

@ Pittsburgh
1-Connecticut(Big East) vs. 16-Stony Brook(America East)
8-Clemson vs. 9-Michigan State
@ Albuquerque
4-Arizona(Pacific-12) vs. 13-Marshall(Conference USA)
5-Texas A&M vs. 12-Brigham Young/Cincinnati
@ Greensboro Coliseum; Greensboro, NC; Atlantic Coast Conference
2-Duke vs. 15-Loyola(MD)(Metro Atlantic)
7-West Virginia vs. 10-Virginia Commonwealth(Colonial)
@ Portland
3-Gonzaga(West Coast) vs. 14-UC Santa Barbara(Big West)
6-Michigan vs. 11-Belmont(Atlantic Sun)

SOUTH Region
Georgia Dome; Atlanta; Georgia Tech

@ Greensboro
1-North Carolina(Atlantic Coast) vs. 16-Hampton(Mid-Eastern)
8-Old Dominion vs. 9-St. Mary's
@ KFC Yum! Center; Louisville; University of Louisville
4-Florida vs. 13- Appalachian State(Southern)
5-Notre Dame vs. 12-Creighton/Mississippi State
@ Bridgestone Arena; Nashville; Ohio Valley Conference
2-Memphis vs. 15-Austin Peay(Ohio Valley)
7-Louisville vs. 10-Miami(FL)
@ Century Link Center; Omaha; Creighton University and Missouri Valley Conference
3-Wisconsin vs. 14-Weber State(Big Sky)
6-Alabama vs. 11-Detroit

EAST Region
TD Garden; Boston

@ Columbus
1-Kentucky(Southeastern) vs. 16-South Dakota State/UNC Asheville
8-Missouri vs. 9-Unlv
@ Nashville
4-Purdue vs. 13-Harvard(Ivy)
5-Virginia Tech vs. 12-Indiana State(Missouri Valley)
@ Louisville
2-Syracuse vs. 15-Lehigh(Patriot)
7-Xavier vs. 10-Central Florida
@ Omaha
3-Kansas vs. 14-Milwaukee(Horizon)
6-Ucla vs. 11-Georgetown

Last four in the field: Brigham Young, Cincinnati, Creighton, Mississippi State
First four left out: Saint Louis, Villanova, Oklahoma State, Uab
Next four left out: Indiana, Virginia, George Mason, California

Reminder: The first Bracket Watch will be posted on January 3rd.

Drama in the City of Jealousy

Yes, I'll have my preseason predictions for the bracket up today, but I couldn't pass this story up.

As the Big East(as in Big East of the Pacific Time Zone) prepares to add 6 more schools, one school who's in the Big East's backyard is going to be left out because of envy. The school is Temple, and their main tormentor is Villanova. SBNation's Temple page(link forthcoming) has the scoop:

The Wildcats reportedly do not want to share the Philadelphia market with another Big East team. There had been some speculation that Villanova’s concerns about adding Temple as a basketball school would lead the conference to extend the Owls a football only invite. However, at least according to McMurphy’s source, that will not be the case.

SNIP

Temple fans will cry foul about an uneven playing field – but if you want the basketball playing field to be even, football needs to be too. And if the Big East isn’t willing to extend that olive branch, Villanova should be opposed to sharing their dominance in the Philadelphia market, a known hoops haven. So no, Villanova isn’t scared of Temple. They’re just being savvy and not giving up a territory that they dominate with nothing in return.

Sounds like envy right? Of course it is. It's also a sign to the new football playing schools that it's the hoop schools that dominate the agenda in this league. And that might not change until those who play football make their break. And then they might welcome the Owls to their ranks.

Predicting the finish-Conference races(Part 2)

Onward we go with the regular season finishes(before the season even starts!

Key:
Conference Tournament Champion
Regular Season Champion, NIT Automatic Bid

Mid-Eastern
1. Coppin State
2. HAMPTON
3. North Carolina Central
4. Morgan State
5. Howard
6. Norfolk State
7. North Carolina A&T
8. Bethune-Cookman
9. Delaware State
10. South Carolina State
11. Florida A&M
12. Umes
13. Savannah State

Missouri Valley
1. Wichita State
2. Creighton
3. INDIANA STATE
4. Missouri State
5. Evansville
6. Northern Iowa
7. Drake
8. Illinois State
9. Southern Illinois
10. Bradley

Mountain West
1. NEW MEXICO
2. Unlv
3. San Diego State
4. Texas Christian
5. Boise State
6. Colorado State
7. Air Force
8. Wyoming

Northeast
1. Long Island
2. Robert Morris
3. Central Connecticut State
4. WAGNER
5. Mount St. Mary's
6. St. Francis(NY)
7. Quinnipiac
8. Sacred Heart
9. Bryant
10. Monmouth
11. St. Francis(PA)
12. Fairleigh Dickinson

Ohio Valley
1. Tennessee Tech
2. AUSTIN PEAY
3. Murray State
4. Tennessee State
5. Jacksonville State
6. SE Missouri State
7. Eastern Kentucky
8. Morehead State
9. Tennessee-Martin
10. Eastern Illinois
11. SIU-Edwardsville

Pacific 12
1. ARIZONA
2. Ucla
3. Washington
4. California
5. Southern California
6. Stanford
7. Oregon
8. Arizona State
9. Washington State
10. Colorado
11. Oregon State
12. Utah

Patriot League
1. Bucknell
2. LEHIGH
3. American
4. Army
5. Holy Cross
6. Colgate
7. Lafayette
8. Navy

Southeastern
1. KENTUCKY
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. Vanderbilt
5. Mississippi State
6. Mississippi
7. Arkansas
8. Georgia
9. Tennessee
10. Louisiana State
11. South Carolina
12. Auburn

Southern
North Division
1. Western Carolina
2. APPALACHIAN STATE
3. Elon
4. Chattanooga
5. UNC Greensboro
6. Samford
South Division
1. Davidson
2. College of Charleston
3. Furman
4. The Citadel
5. Wofford
6. Georgia Southern

Southland
East Division
1. LAMAR
2. Northwestern State
3. SE Louisiana
4. Central Arkansas
5. McNeese State
6. Nicholls State
West Division
1. Texas-Arlington
2. Utsa
3. Stephen F. Austin
4. Sam Houston State
5. Texas State
6. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Southwestern
1. ALABAMA STATE
2. Jackson State
3. Texas Southern
4. Alabama A&M
5. Prairie View A&M
6. Mississippi Valley State
7. Uapb
8. Alcorn State
9. Grambling
10. Southern

Summit
1. Oral Roberts
2. Oakland
3. SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
4. North Dakota State
5. Iupui
6. Southern Utah
7. Missouri-Kansas City
8. South Dakota
9. Ipfw
10. Western Illinois

Sun Belt
East Division
1. Florida Atlantic
2. South Alabama
3. Middle Tennessee
4. Western Kentucky
5. Florida International
6. Troy
West Division
1. NORTH TEXAS
2. Arkansas State
3. Louisiana-Lafayette
4. Ualr
5. Denver
6. Louisiana-Monroe

West Coast
1. GONZAGA
2. St. Mary's
3. Brigham Young
4. Portland
5. Santa Clara
6. Pepperdine
7. San Francisco
8. San Diego
9. Loyola Marymount

Western Athletic
1. UTAH STATE
2. Nevada
3. New Mexico State
4. Idaho
5. Fresno State
6. Hawai'i
7. San Jose State
8. Louisiana Tech

And last, but not least, the Great West(if you constitute west as being west of the Hudson.)
1. NJIT
2. Utah Valley
3. North Dakota
4. Houston Baptist
5. Texas-Pan American
6. Chicago State