Ivy League Announces Scheduling Changes for 2020-21 and 2021-22 Basketball Seasons
PRINCETON, N.J. – Beginning with the 2020-21 season, the Ivy League men’s and women’s basketball conference slate will take on a new form.
- Conference season will move from an eight-week to a 10-week schedule.
- Next season, league play will begin for all 16 teams on Jan. 2, 2021
- League’s signature back-to-back weekends will be featured three times during conference play
- The new format continues to prioritize and balance student-athlete time demands
- Each team will conclude the regular season with a single-game travel partner contest
“Understanding that scheduling is always a challenge with competing interests, this new format accomplishes two of our chief priorities: to create a structure that is fair and equitable over time and continues to minimize the impact on missed class time for our student-athletes,” Ivy League Executive Director
Robin Harris said.
“The format decompresses the schedule with two additional weeks of conference play and enables our teams the opportunity to compete at the highest level both in the classroom and on the court.”
The decision follows a year-long process with key constituents throughout the league including coaches, administrators and student-athletes.
The opportunity to reexamine and modify the structure of the schedule coincides with the change in Princeton’s academic calendar with fall semester exams moving from January to December, beginning with the 2020-21 academic year.
In total, the schedule will consist of six one-opponent weekends and three of the league’s signature Friday and Saturday back-to-back weekends. Each team will also have a contest on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The schedule format has been approved for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 season.
Ivy League basketball schedule structure
Week 1 – one game
Week 2 – two games (back-to-back)
Week 3 – two games (Saturday and MLK Day)
Week 4 – one game
Week 5 – one game
Week 6 – two games (back-to-back)
Week 7 – one game
Week 8 – two games (back-to-back)
Week 9 – one game
Week 10 – one game (vs. travel partner)