The Ivy League will begin participating in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time starting with the 2025 season, the league announced on Wednesday.
The FCS, formerly Division I-AA, has staged a championship tournament since 1978. But the Ivy League, despite a long history of competing for NCAA championships in other sports, has not participated in postseason football. That is changing, thanks to a process initiated by the Ivy League’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee a year ago.
“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 Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris in a statement announcing the new policy. “I want to commend the students on our SAAC for their thoughtful and thorough proposal as well as their commitment to the league’s legislative process.”
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“It’s a monumental day in the Ivy League and a special day to be an Ivy League student-athlete,” said Advisory Committee Chair Mason Shipp, a senior wide receiver at Yale who authored the proposal. “Thank you to the Presidents for listening and responding to the voices of your students. For the future generations that are fortunate enough to represent the Ivy League in the FCS playoffs, go win us some hardware!”
The 2024 season concluded with a three-way tie among Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard atop the Ivy standings. Over the next several months, the league will develop tiebreakers to determine how its automatic qualifier will be awarded when there are co-champions in the future, the release said.