(07-12-2017 12:47 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(07-11-2017 10:53 PM)nzmorange Wrote:  

(07-11-2017 06:44 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(07-11-2017 04:46 PM)billybobby777 Wrote:  

(07-11-2017 01:44 PM)nzmorange Wrote:  They aren't academic fits. Times have changed since Holy Cross, RU, etc. invites. It won't happen.

Maybe....maybe not. Just 5 years ago I could see Army and Navy being no brainers for the Ivy. It's still a possibility. Not saying either party is interested, but if Army and Navy wanted to join the Ivy, the Ivy would consider it.

IIRC, there's bad blood between the Ivy and the academies dating back to the Vietnam War. Liberal and conservative politics.

It's not politics. Cornell produced more WWI (or maybe it was WWII) officers than any other school in the nation.

The issue is that the Ivy schools are on a whole different academic level than the military academies, and the Ivy League schools aren't going to sacrifice the conference's almost mythical reputation. What does Brown have over Northwestern? Stanford? It's its Ivy membership. More than any other conference, the Ivy League isn't about football - or any other sport for that matter. It's about academics.

Schools like MIT and NYU have a shot. Even then, I think it's a long one. Schools like Navy don't.

The Ivy League is one of just three FCS conferences that does not participate in the annual NCAA Division I Football Championship, and it is the only league that does not take part in any postseason play. The Ancient Eight season lasts 10 weeks and ends in late November, more than a month before the FCS tournament finishes. A change in the system, which dates back to 1945 and would need to be agreed on by all eight Ivy League presidents, remains unlikely in the coming years.

“The Ivy League presidents are not interested in allowing participation [in] the NCAA Division I Football Championship for several reasons, including its potential impact on academics with a schedule that extends into December and early January,” Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris said. “[Ivy presidents] value Ivy League football as it currently exists and also believe the focus should be on the regular season in football, and that the traditions and the history of Ivy League football should be paramount.”

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2016/03/04...-unlikely/

Would the service academies pass on the opportunity for post-season play to be part of the Ivy League? Doubtful. Would the Ivy League compromise its policy against post-season play to add Army and Navy? Even more doubtful.

I think that the service academies would 100% pass on an fcs playoff to be in the Ivy League. I think that even Alabama would at least consider it.