Men's Basketball Postseason Release 1

2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship:
Bracket | Releases: Ivy League | Harvard | Postseason Media Teleconference

Brackets & Schedules: CIT | CBI

PRINCETON, N.J. -- For the first time its history, the Ivy League has four teams advancing to postseason play with Harvard making its first trip to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship since 1946, Yale earning its first-ever appearance in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) and Penn and Princeton playing in the College Basketball Invitational presented by Zebra Pen (CBI).

The Ivy League boasts multiple teams in the postseason for the fourth time in five years and has at least three teams continuing beyond the regular season for just the third time (2001-02, 2009-10 and 2011-12). Two seasons ago, Cornell went on its Cinderella run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament while Princeton went on a run of its own to reach the CBI semifinals and Harvard made its first postseason appearance of any type in 64 years in the CIT. It marked the first time three Ivy teams were in the postseason since the 2001-02 season when Penn earned the League's bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning a three-team playoff and the other two tri-champions, Princeton and Yale, received bids to the Postseason NIT.

Harvard is making the 69th NCAA Tournament appearance for an Ivy League team and 55th for the League since its first official season (1956-57). Since 1939, Ivy League teams have combined for a 40-78 (.339) record in 68 appearances. Since 1957, the Ivy League has a 31-58 (.348) record in 54 appearances.

Yale returns to the postseason for the fifth time and the first time since its 2002 NIT appearance when it defeated Rutgers in the first round for its first postseason tournament victory in school history. The Bulldogs fell to Tennessee Tech in the second round at the New Haven Coliseum. Yale brings a 19-9 overall record into the CIT, the program's best season since winning 21 games in 2001-02.

Penn and Princeton earn another piece of postseason history as both represent the Ancient Eight in the CBI. Princeton is making its 32nd postseason appearance (24 NCAA, 5 NIT and 2 CBI) and Penn is making its 25th trip (23 NCAA, 1 NIT, 1 CBI) to postseason play. The Tigers advance to postseason play for a third-straight season and are back in the CBI for the second time in three years. The Quakers return to the postseason for the first time since the 2006-07 season and are hosting its first postseason game at The Palestra since 1978.

"Inside Ivy League Basketball" will close the season with a packed 12th episode on Tuesday, March 13 at 7 p.m., featuring interviews from the men's and women's sides as Ivy teams enter postseason play. The men's side will feature interviews with Harvard junior guard Brandyn Curry, Penn senior guard Zack Rosen, Princeton senior guard Douglas Davis, Yale head coach James Jones and former Brown standout and current Delaware director of athletics Bernard Muir. On the women's side, Princeton head coach Courtney Banghart and Harvard head coach Kathy Delaney-Smith will stop by to talk about their teams advancing to the postseason.

"Inside Ivy League Basketball" is hosted by Dan Loney and Brian Seltzer and takes an in-depth look at all the news and notes surrounding Ivy men's and women's basketball on and off the courts during the 2011-12 season. The 12-episode show debuted Thursday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. on BlogTalkRadio.com (blogtalkradio.com/insideivyleaguebasketball) and is available on-demand via BlogTalkRadio and IvyLeagueSports.com.     

Fans and alumni can interact with the show via its social media platforms -- Facebook (Inside Ivy League Basketball) and Twitter (@insideivyhoops) -- as well as provide ideas and content for the show's 'Twitter Talk/Facebook Fodder' segment.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 13
CBI First Round
 Princeton at Evansville, 8 pm [HDNet]

Wednesday, March 14
CIT First Round
 Yale at Fairfield, 7 pm

CBI First Round
 Quinnipiac at Penn, 7:30 pm [TCN]

Thursday, March 15
NCAA Second Round
The Pit, Albuquerque, N.M.
 (12) Harvard vs. (5) Vanderbilt, 4:40 pm [TNT]    

Friday-Sunday, March 16-18
CIT Second Round

Saturday, March 17
NCAA Third Round
The Pit, Albuquerque, N.M.
    Harvard/Vanderbilt vs. Montana/Wisconsin

Monday, March 19
CBI Quarterfinals

KEY:
HDNet - DirecTV 306, DISH 362, Verizon FiOS 569; TCN – The Comcast Network (Verizon FiOS 99); TNT – Turner Network Television (DirecTV 245; DISH 138 (SD), Verizon FiOS 51 (SD), 551 (HD))