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USATSI

The Ivy League does things quite differently than the other conferences when it comes to end of season tournaments, as only four teams are going up against one another for an automatic bid into this year's NCAA Tournament. The tournament begins Saturday ahead of the championship game on Sunday. Yale holds the No. 1 seed after a 20-7 season and 13-1 conference record. Cornell is No. 2, Dartmouth is No. 3 and Princeton is No. 4. Yale is the lone Ivy League squad projected to make this year's NCAA Tournament, according to the latest bracketology update from Jerry Palm for CBS Sports. 

Ivy League Tournament Schedule

Semifinals 

SF1 - No. 1 Yale vs. No. 4 Princeton
SF2 - No. 2 Cornell vs. No. 3 Dartmouth 

Final

SF1 winner vs. SF2 winner

Yale is the heavy favorite to win this four-team tournament, according to DraftKings, and is priced at -160. Cornell is +300, Dartmouth is +600 and Princeton is +1200.

Yale's John Poulakidas has been one top players in the Ivy League this year, and he leads the league and the Bulldogs with 19.3 points per game. Nick Townsend has been another key player for Yale, averaging 15.4 points per contest and making 53.3% of his shots while leading the Bulldogs with 7.1 rebounds per game. Cornell has five players averaging double-digit points per game, with Nazir Williams leading the Big Red with 14.9 points per game. Cooper Noard is averaging 13.6 points per game, and he's made 43.5% of his 3-point attempts this season. Ryan Cornish is far and away Dartmouth's top player this year, as he leads the Big Green in points (17.2), assists (3.3), and steals (1.4) per game this year. Brandon Mitchell-Day is second in scoring with 13.3 points per game, and he leads Darmouth in rebounds with 7.6 per contest. Xaivian Lee has been great for Princeton this season, leading the Tigers in points (17.0), assists (5.4) and steals (1.2) per game. Caden Pierce is another player to watch as he is second on the team in scoring (11.3) and leads the Tigers with 7.3 rebounds per contest. 

Cornell paces the Ivy League with 85 points per game and Yale, which has the top scoring defense in the conference at 69.7 points allowed per contest, is a close second with 82.2 points per game. Yale boasts the 16th-best scoring margin in the nation this season.  

SportsLine expert Thomas Casale is picking Yale to continue its Ivy League dominance and punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. You can find out which teams Casale and other SportsLine experts have backed for each conference tournament only at SportsLine.