The Ivy League will participate in the FCS playoffs beginning in the 2025 season, accepting its auto-bid into the bracket after a nearly 80-year ban on football teams participating in the postseason. ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported the news this morning.
In November, the Ivy League Student-Athlete Advisory Committee made a push to allow its top football team or teams into the 24-team FCS bracket. The proposal needed final approval from all of the Ivy League presidents, which it did earlier this week.
The playoff bracket will now go to 11 auto-bids from 11 conferences and 13 at-large bids instead of 10 and 14.
“The Ivy League prides itself on a storied tradition of impact, influence and competitive success throughout the history of college football. We now look ahead to a new chapter of success and to further enhancing the student-athlete experience with our participation in the NCAA FCS playoffs,” said Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris. “I want to commend the students on our SAAC for their thoughtful and thorough proposal as well as their commitment to the league’s legislative process.”
An eight-team conference, the Ivy League had declined its auto-bid into the FCS playoffs every year. A ban on Ivy football teams participating in the playoffs has been in place since 1945, citing academic reasons.
“It’s a monumental day in the Ivy League and a special day to be an Ivy League student-athlete,” said Mason Shipp, a senior football student-athlete at Yale who serves as the Ivy League SAAC chair and penned the proposal. “Thank you to the Presidents for listening and responding to the voices of your students. For the future generations that are fortunate enough to represent the Ivy League in the FCS playoffs, go win us some hardware!”
A storied Ivy League team or two in the 24-team bracket would add some depth and more intrigue to the FCS postseason. The top-heavy national title picture may not change, although some past Ivy League teams may have been good enough for a quarterfinal run.
This season, Harvard was ranked No. 25 in the last FCS Top 25 Media Poll.
And in previous years, some Ivy teams have been ranked in the final Top 25 media poll:
2021:
No. 24 Princeton
No. 20 Dartmouth
2019:
No. 25 Yale
No. 22 Dartmouth
2018:
No. 11 Princeton
No. 18 Dartmouth
The Ivy League had typically played a 10-game season, playing three non-conference games and starting their season a few weeks later than the rest of the FCS. This fall, for example, their first games were on Sept. 21. Changes to their regular-season scheduling format are to be determined.
