Ivy basketball tourneys bring ‘madness’ to Ithaca

The ivy-speckled road to the NCAA Tournament runs through Ithaca this year, as Cornell hosts the men's and women's Ivy League Basketball tournaments - the first time Cornell has served as host and the culmination of more than a year of preparation across the campus.

The top four teams in the men's and women's divisions will battle March 13-15 in Newman Arena for the conference's automatic bids to the "Big Dance."

On the men's side, the Big Red's late-season push earned them the fourth seed, and they will take on top-seeded Yale on March 14 at 11 a.m. Cornell beat the Bulldogs, 72-69, on Feb. 27 on a last-second 3-pointer by senior Jake Fiegen '26. The other semifinal features second-seeded Harvard taking on third-seeded Penn. The winners will play for the title March 15 at noon.

For the women, Brown, Columbia, Harvard and Princeton have all qualified but seedings have yet to be determined going into the final weekend of the regular season.

"Cornell is thrilled to welcome all of these incredible student-athletes to Ithaca," President Michael I. Kotlikoff said. "The NCAA basketball tournaments are cultural institutions and lots of fun. I'm excited and proud, both as a fan and as the university's president, to host our terrific Ivy athletes, coaches and fans."

Cornell officials shadowed their counterparts from Brown during the 2025 Ivy tournaments in Providence, Rhode Island, gaining a behind-the-scenes look at some of the challenges they would face as host, said Nicki Moore, the Meakem and Smith Director of Athletics and Physical Education.

And with some improvements at Bartels Hall and Newman Arena in anticipation of the event, Moore believes Cornell is ready for the spotlight.

"This gives Cornell the chance to step up on a broader stage and show the country the kind of energy we bring to whatever we're doing," Moore said. "We're known for our hospitality, and we get to show it."

Cornell becomes the seventh of the eight Ivy League campuses to host since the inaugural events in 2017. The league has not announced a plan for host sites after the current rotation ends in 2027 with Dartmouth.