Ivy League football to compete in FCS playoffs beginning next season
Princeton's Jordan Culbreath, center, fights for an extra yard as he is tackled by Yale's Jay Pilkerton, left, Bobby Abare, center, and Brady Hart, right during Yale's 14-0 victory in an NCAA college football game in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008. Credit: AP/Fred Beckham
PRINCETON, N.J. — The Ivy League announced Wednesday its football programs will compete in the FCS playoffs beginning next season.
The league said the decision to compete in the playoffs followed a year-long process initiated by its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Mason Shipp, a senior football player at Yale who serves as the committee’s chairman, called this a monumental day and said to the future generations of Ivy League football players: “go win us some hardware!”
The 2024 season culminated with Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard earning a share of the Ivy League title. It was Colombia football’s first Ivy League title since 1961.
The league said it will develop a tiebreaker system to determine how its automatic-qualifier for the playoffs will be determined.
“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 Robin Harris, the league's executive director.
