"Yes, Vanderbilt just beat seemingly invincible Kentucky in the SEC championship game [on Sunday afternoon],” Mass wrote. “However, we're always a bit worried when a team is coming off such an emotional high. Add to the mix that there always seems to be a No. 12 that does indeed shock the world, and the fact that Harvard is one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA, and we're going Crimson."

But according to Boston Globe writer Bob Ryan, this upset victory is much easier said than done. For Ryan, the tournament is not as much about seeding but about matchups. And in his opinion, it does not look good for this year’s representative from the Ivy League.

"The 12 seed doesn’t bother me as much as the sheer bad luck of the nature of the opponent," Ryan said. "I would’ve preferred them to play any of the other fives—Vanderbilt is a dreadful matchup, the worst that Harvard could have had. I would’ve said the same thing if Harvard had drawn a 10 seed and had played Vanderbilt as a seventh seed."

But when compared to other Ivy League champions from years past, Harvard’s seeding may not have turned out so poorly after all. In 2011, Princeton was placed in the No. 13 slot. The year before that, Cornell was seeded at 12 but managed to make an improbable run to the Sweet 16.

This may be attributed to the inherent lack of difficulty in an Ivy League schedule compared with those of schools in more prominent leagues, such as the Big 12 or Big East. Without the continually tough matchups that are present in those conferences, Ivy League teams will never compare to other teams in the “Strength of Schedule” category that the NCAA uses to help determine seeding.

Ryan, for one, believes that the difficulty-of-schedule category may have actually helped the Crimson in its seeding this year.

"Harvard is now not shying away from playing people," Ryan said. "Obviously, the great feather in Harvard’s cap was their win over Florida State [in November]. Granted that was on a neutral court and was seemingly eons ago, but it happened, and it’s real, and there was nothing fluky about it."

"I can just hear the committee members sitting around and saying, ‘Well they beat Florida State, we have to give them a 12," Ryan added. "They can’t just go on number crunching."

Despite the No. 12 ranking, not all statistics are against Harvard. In NCAA history, the five-versus-12 matchup is notorious for producing upsets. In the last decade of March Madness alone, all but one tournament included a 12 seed defeating its higher-ranked opponent.

And for local Harvard fans, there is another way in which the 12th seed could be considered a blessing. If the Crimson manages to beat both Vanderbilt and the winner of the Wisconsin-Montana matchup, fans will be able to see their team live only miles from campus, at the TD Garden in Boston, for the Sweet 16. This scenario would not have been possible if Harvard had been granted the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region like many predicted.

Despite the possible short-term benefits and potential upsets, for some Ivy coaches, it is undeniable that a change must be made for the long-term benefit as well as health of their league. If not, Ivy postseason play may remain as stagnant as ever.

"It really is disabling our ability to promote our league and the teams we have,” Smith concluded. “As the Ivy League, we have some advantages in other areas, so people may feel, 'They’ll be okay, they’re getting a good education.' But there is a difference. As an athlete, you believe that this is one of the only venues in life where the outcome will be the most fair, where you work hard, and supposedly the best man or woman will win. So I’m not asking for a better opportunity, I’m asking for a fair opportunity so that these guys to get a chance."

—Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at jspiesgans@college.harvard.edu.