Christina Lee

The 2023 Princeton Tigers. The 2024 Yale Bulldogs. What about 2025?

Ahead of this year’s March Madness tournament, the News took a look at the Ivy League performance’s in the tournament over the past twenty years. Recently, Ivy League teams have proven to be an unexpected strong competitor in March Madness. 

With Yale’s 2025 Ivy Championship bid, they have made it to the Big Dance five times since the 2015-16 season. 

In 2024, Yale came up with one of the biggest upsets in current history. The Bulldogs came into the tournament ready to compete and took down the No.4 seed Auburn in a close 78–76 game. 

Yale Head Coach James Jones was asked about why Ivy teams have found unexpected success at yesterday’s press conference held ahead of the first round matchups in Denver.

 “People don’t think we’re any good. Nobody gives you any credit for being any good. If you read the name on the chest and you see an Ivy League school, you’re supposed to be X, Y or Z, but it’s a misnomer. It’s not reality.” 

This is representative of what makes Ivy teams different from their opponents, that underdog spirit. Ivy teams have consistently been underestimated, yet it’s done nothing but fuel them to huge successes in the tournament. 

In 2023, Princeton qualified as a No. 15 seed and made a historic run all the way to the Sweet 16. The Tigers took down No. 2 Arizona, 59–55 in the first round and No. 7 Missouri 78–63 in the second.

In 2016, Yale won its first NCAA tournament game when they defeated Baylor 79–75 in the first round. 

In 2014 and 2013, Harvard took down both of their first round opponents, Cincinnati and New Mexico, respectively. 

In the past twenty years, Ivy League teams have proved their tenacity and ability to take down several top seeded teams going into the NCAA tournament. Princeton’s Sweet 16 run is a legendary one, and Yale’s consistency in making the tournament these past five years has been something to watch out for. 

“We feel like, again, we can be competitive and the teams in our league can be competitive against a lot of teams in the country. Now, are we the best team in the entire country? Well, we’re going to have our opportunity to prove that, but we certainly feel like we can compete with anybody, and I think that’s what’s really important,” Jones said.

The Ivy success trend bodes well for our No. 13 Bulldogs who are set to take on No. 4 Texas A&M Thursday night. 

The team is sure to take many lessons from their major upset last year, also against a No. 4 seeded SEC school. 

“[Last year’s upset] definitely brings us a lot of confidence,” John Poulakidas ’25 told the News. “Obviously Texas A&M brings a different challenge that Auburn brought last year, but the fact that we know that we can play on this stage honestly with anybody in the country is something that carries us to working hard, and we’re excited for the opportunity tomorrow.” 

Both Poulakidas and star defensive man Bez Mbeng ’25 were on the Yale teams that went to the 2022 and 2024 March Madness tournament. That experience in the national tournament should help calm their nerves as they hit the court. 

Yale is set to play Texas A&M at 5:25 pm MST on Thursday. The game will be played in the Ball Arena in Denver, CO and can be watched on TBS.