Ivy League Basketball: Predicting the standings for the 2017-18 season

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 12: The Princeton Tigers hoist the championship trophy after the win against the Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League tournament final at The Palestra on March 12, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Princeton won 71-59. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – MARCH 12: The Princeton Tigers hoist the championship trophy after the win against the Yale Bulldogs in the Ivy League tournament final at The Palestra on March 12, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Princeton won 71-59. (Photo by Corey Perrine/Getty Images) /

Ivy League basketball is on the rise. Heading into 2017-18, there are several contenders to reach the conference tournament and take the automatic bid.

2016-17 was the first season that the Ivy League held a conference tournament. The difference with this tournament compared to others of its kind is that only the top four teams get to participate.

Of course last year it didn’t matter whether there was a tournament or not as Princeton was clearly the best team in the conference. The Tigers went undefeated in the regular conference season while barely breaking a sweat.

The Tigers had an unexpected fight on their hands, though, as they needed to go to overtime to beat Penn in the very first conference tournament game. Yale pulled away from Harvard in a very tight game in the other semifinal. In the finals, Princeton defeated Yale for the automatic bid.

Princeton went to the big dance as a No. 12 seed and was a popular pick to upset the No. 5 seed Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Despite fighting strong all game, Princeton lost in the first round.

This year there won’t be expectations of a team going undefeated through the regular season. With the top losing some talent, and the bottom getting better, there might just be a shakeup in the hierarchy of the Ivy League. Here’s a look at how the Ivy might turn out this season.