It's an Equity Issue?: Ending the Ivy League Football Postseason Ban

I have long advocated for an Ivy football Championship game (which 33 of 35 Ivy League sports get to have), a revival of the ECAC Bowl Game and an All-Ivy All Star game to showcase the talent of the league (previously done and discontinued).

I would also add an Ivy sponsored Pro-Day prior to the NFL Draft, rotating from campus to campus or focused on the three big Ivy League cities (Philly, Boston, New York) to maximize exposure.

There has been an idea forwarded that the specific exclusion of Ivy football from postseason play is a violation of Title IX (see voy forums Ivy League Sports Board) and does not allow male football players the same opportunities as say, women lacrosse players, for "Full and effective accommodation of the interest and ability" and does not "Demonstrate a continual expansion of athletic opportunities."

While use of Title IX is a unique angle, common sense and fairness should be enough, as demonstrated from the examples below:

(from ivyleaguesports.com)
Sponsoring conference championships in 33 men's and women's sports, and averaging more than 35 varsity teams at each school, the Ivy League provides intercollegiate athletic opportunities for more men and women than any other conference in the country. All eight Ivy schools are among the "top 20" of NCAA Division I schools in number of sports offered for both men and women.

Please note that these events for the 2009-10 season are subject to change.
Ivy League Championships:
Cross Country (Men & Women)
Fencing (Men & Women)
Women's Swimming and Diving
Indoor Track & Field (Men & Women)
Men's Swimming and Diving
Men's Golf
Women's Golf
Men's Lacrosse
Women's Lacrosse
Baseball (men)
Softball (women)
Outdoor Track & Field (Men & Women)

ECAC Championships:
Wrestling
Men's Hockey
Women's Hockey
Men's Rowing
Women's Rowing

NCAA Championships:
Men's Basketball (Cornell)
Fencing (Harvard)
Lacrosse (Cornell Men)


(from gocrimson.com)
The Harvard fencing team will send nine members, including five women and four men, to the NCAA Championships hosted by Penn State at the Ashenfelter Multi-Sport Facility in State College, Pa. The championships will begin Thursday, March 19 and conclude Sunday, March 22 (2009).


(from espn.com)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Kenny Nims never realized how desperate things had become for Syracuse because he refused to consider the possibility that the defending NCAA lacrosse champions might actually lose.

"Never count us out," said Nims, who scored with 4.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and help the Orange beat Cornell 10-9 for their second straight title and record 11th overall.


(from ncaa.com)
The Ivy League's bids to the NCAA men's and women's lacrosse tournament will no longer be an "automatic" for the regular-season champion beginning in 2010. The league has announced that an Ivy League tournament for men's and women's lacrosse will be held annually beginning with the 2010 season. The winners of the tournament will receive the league's automatic bids to the NCAA tournaments, rather than the regular-season champion, as has always been the case in the past.

So it is not that NCAA championships are forbidden league-wide. It is not that there is an unwillingness to add additional conference championships and it is not that there is no room for playoffs or championships outside of the Ivy League or NCAAs (An ECAC Championship would be equivalent to the ECAC Bowl proposal).

I have shown that these add-ons can be scheduled without impacting exams. What then, is left to demonstrate? Let's find the sponsors and get this done!