Ivy League adds basketball tournaments for 2017

The Ivy League will add men's and women's basketball tournaments next season that will determine the conference's automatic berths for the NCAA Tournament.

"The structure of our basketball tournaments is consistent with our model of college athletics and the format allows us to preserve the significance of the regular season," Ivy League executive director Robin Harris said.

Most importantly, this creates a landmark event during March Madness for our basketball student-athletes to anticipate while they are in school and to cherish throughout their lives after graduation.

The Ivy League traditionally sent its regular-season champion to the tournament.

Princeton women's coach Courtney Banghart wished the league would have done more to protect the top seed, as many other conferences do.