Ivy Presidents Grant N.I.T. Basketball Play

The presidents of the eight Ivy League institutions have removed their ban on participation of Ivy League basketball teams in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). The decision was announced over the Christmas recess.

The Ivy Group Policy Committee, consisting of the Ivy presidents, also clarified its standing proposal on post-season participation by Ivy League athletes. The proposal states that "participation [in post-season contests] is limited to one post-season contest per sport for each undergraduate who has completed his senior year in that sport."

In the past, the Ivy League has sanctioned post-season team participation in all sports events sponsored by the NCAA and the ECAC. Now seniors who have completed varsity competition in a sport may participate in post-season events conducted on an amateur basis.

The Policy Committee turned down a Dartmouth proposal to expand the Ivy League football schedule to permit a tenth game. Presently the NCAA allows football teams to schedule 11 games, but the Ivy League restricts members to a nine-game schedule. Only Dartmouth voted in favor of the addition of a tenth game.

The decision on the NIT reversed a similar vote taken last spring. At that time Columbia was forced to turn down an NIT invitation. Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown voted against the motion last spring to tie the vote and defeat the proposal. At least one of those schools changed its vote last month, and now it is up to the individual institution to accept or reject an NIT bid.

The Policy Committee's action was taken with the understanding that Ivy League members will continue to be obliged to accept a bid from the NCAA basketball tournament first.