Ivy League athletic directions convened in New York on Thursday to discuss the possibility of adding a postseason tournament to the league schedule. Yale athletic director Tom Beckett told the Norwich Bulletin that while the subject frequently has been raised over the years, this represents “the first time that there’s been enough interest that has… developed into an ad hoc group that’s been asked to asked to study it further.” As has been well-documented, the Ivy League is now the only Division I conference to eschew a conference tournament, opting to award its automatic NCAA Tournament bid to the regular season champion.

Slant: It’s hard to know whether any positions actually have changed, or whether this is just for show. Carolyn Campbell-McGovern told Bloomberg that “a few people have been less resistant to the idea than in the past.” While the chance of any change is unclear, the approval process for any possible modifications to the current system mostly likely would involve a timetable of two or three years. Were nothing to come from the talks, one positive aspect of the publicity generated by the meeting is the likelihood that the league’s anti-tournament stance will be viewed less as resistance to change and more like a well-reseasoned decision based on serious research and consideration.