With its victory over Indiana State on Feb. 21, Belmont secured the outright Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship and No. 1 seed in the 2026 State Farm MVC Tournament (March 5-8 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Mo.)

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Printable Bracket (PDF)

2026 STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Thursday-Sunday, March 5-8  •  Enterprise Center  •  St. Louis, Missouri 
 

GAME SCHEDULE (All Times Central)
THURSDAY, MARCH 5
3:30 pm	GAME 1 (#8 Southern Illinois vs. #9 Drake)
6 pm*	GAME 2 (#7 Valpariso vs. #10 Indiana State)
8:30 pm*	GAME 3 (#6 UNI vs. #11 Evansville)
FRIDAY, MARCH 6
12 pm	GAME 4 (#1 Belmont vs. Winner Game 1)
2:30 pm*	GAME 5 (#4 Murray State vs. #5 UIC)
6 pm	GAME 6 (#2 Bradley vs. Winner Game 2)
8:30 pm*	GAME 7 (#3 Illinois State vs. Winner Game 3)
SATURDAY, MARCH 7
2:30 pm	GAME 8 (Game 4 & 5 winners)
5 pm*	GAME 9 (Game 6 & 7 winners)
SUNDAY, MARCH 8
11 am	MVC Championship Game
* Times of games are approximate

It marks Belmont's 13th regular-season conference championship in the last 21 years – spanning three different conferences (ASUN, OVC, MVC). It's the Bruins' first MVC title in men's basketball.

There were two ties in the standings that utilized the NET to break the tie. Illinois State, Murray State, and UIC tied for third place at 12-8. The teams had identical 2-2 records in the pool of tied teams. Illinois State (90) has the better NET rating as of Monday, March 2. Murray State's NET is 101, while UIC is 116. 

The other tie involved sixth place -- between UNI (11-7) and Valparaiso (11-7). The teams split their regular-season series, but UNI's NET on Monday, March 2, is 81. Valparaiso's NET rating this morning is 155.

Since 1994, three or more teams have reached 20+ wins in the same season 15 times prior to the conference tournament.  Only three times have four teams reached 20+ wins prior to the MVC Tournament (2023, 2025, and 2026). This year, Belmont, Bradley, Illinois State, and Murray State all sport 20 or more wins heading into the tournament.

No team from the MVC has won four games in four days to claim the league tourney title.  Only one team seeded 7 or worse has reached the finals:  #7 Valparaiso (2020).


50th Year of the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

• First Tournament: 1977 (Southern Illinois, champion)
• 36th-Straight Tournament played in St. Louis (campus sites 1977-90)
• Total Tournament Games: 406 (entering 2026 tournament)
• Players to Earn Doug Elgin MOP Award twice:  Kyle Korver, Creighton (2002, 2003), Doug McDermott, Creighton (2012, 2013), Tucker DeVries, Drake (2023, 2024)

Notable Player Achievements
Most Points in Tournament Game - Hersey Hawkins, Bradley (41 in 1988)
Most Points in Tournament - Larry Bird, Indiana State (129 points in 4 games in 1978)

Notable Coaching Achievements
Most Tournament Appearances as Head Coach
20 - Ben Jacobson, UNI

Most Titles
12 - Creighton
5 - UNI
5 - Southern Illinois
4 - 5 teams

Most Tournament Victories (entering 2026)
47 - Illinois State
43 - Bradley
43 - Creighton

Most Title-Game Appearances
13 - Creighton
13 - Illinois State
10 - Bradley
10 - Southern Illinois

Titles by Seed
1 - 18 times
2 - 18 times
3 - 7 times
4 - 4 times
5 - 2 times