Editing Ivy League (section)

====19th century====
[[File:Yale's four-oared crew team with 1876 Centennial Regatta trophy.jpg|thumb|Yale University's four-oared [[rowing|crew]] team, posing with the 1876 Centennial [[Regatta]] trophy]]
[[File:Harvard vs yale program 1875.jpg|thumb|The 1875 program for the [[Harvard Crimson|Harvard]] vs. [[Yale Bulldogs|Yale]] game played using [[Rugby football|rugby]] rules]]
In 1870, the nation's first formal athletic league was created in 1870 with the formation of the [[Rowing Association of American Colleges]] (RAAC), composed exclusively of Ivy League universities. RAAC hosted a national championship in rowing  from 1870 to 1894.

The first [[Harvard–Yale football rivalry|Harvard vs Yale]] rugby football contest was held in 1875, two years after the inaugural [[Princeton–Yale football rivalry|Princeton–Yale]] rugby football contest. Harvard athlete Nathaniel Curtis challenged [[1875 Yale Bulldogs football team|Yale]]'s captain, William Arnold to a rugby-style game.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.171.html/2005/important-sports-memorabilia-and-cards-n08155|title=First Harvard versus Yale Football Game Program, 1875 - lot - Sotheby's|work=sothebys.com|access-date=January 14, 2024|archive-date=January 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111203156/http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.171.html/2005/important-sports-memorabilia-and-cards-n08155|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theunbalancedline.com/2010/03/year-by-year-1875.html|title=Year by Year 1875|work=theunbalancedline.com}}</ref>
Program for the "Foot Ball Match", Harvard v Yale, the first intercollegiate game. It is considered the first rugby game between Ivy League teams. The game was played at [[Hamilton Park (New Haven)|Hamilton Park]], a venue in [[New Haven, Connecticut]] (located at the intersection of Whalley Avenue and West Park Avenue<ref name=Stannard>Ed Stannard, [http://www.newhavenregister.com/articles/2009/02/08/news/new_haven/ctoldnewhaven.txt Photography exhibit reveals 'lost New Haven'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306222022/http://www.newhavenregister.com/articles/2009/02/08/news/new_haven/ctoldnewhaven.txt |date=2012-03-06 }}, The New Haven Register, Sunday, February 8, 2009</ref>). The two teams played with 15 players (rugby) on a side instead of 11 (soccer) as Yale would have preferred.

In 1881, [[University of Pennsylvania|Penn]], [[Harvard College]], [[Haverford College]], Princeton University (then known as College of New Jersey), and Columbia University (then known as Columbia College) formed The [[Intercollegiate sports team champions#Cricket|Intercollegiate Cricket Association]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thedp.com/article/2020/10/penn-cricket-team-historical-feature |title=Penn's oldest sport goes back 168 years, and it's not one you might think |website=www.thedp.com |access-date=April 17, 2021}}</ref> which [[Cornell University]] later joined.<ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/cricket/1864.html |website= |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180723200322/http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/cricket/1864.html|access-date=April 17, 2021|archive-date= July 23, 2018|title=Cricket: Penn's First Organized Sport}}</ref> Penn won The Intercollegiate Cricket Association championship 23 times, including 18 solo victories and three shared with Haverford and Harvard, one shared with Haverford and Cornell, and one shared with just Haverford, during the 44 years that the Intercollegiate Cricket Association existed from 1881 through 1924.<ref>Haverford won such championship 19 times (3 shared with Penn and Harvard, 1 shared with Penn and Cornell, and 1 shared with Penn), and, in third place, Harvard won it 6 times, none after 1899 (3 shared with Haverford and Penn) accessed April 18, 2021.</ref>

In 1895, Cornell, Columbia, and Penn founded the [[Intercollegiate Rowing Association]], which remains the oldest collegiate athletic organizing body in the US. To this day, the IRA Championship Regatta determines the national champion in rowing and all of the Ivies are regularly invited to compete.

A basketball league was later created in 1902, when Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton formed the [[Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League]]; they were later joined by Penn and Dartmouth.