ST. LOUIS - The field for the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Softball Championship, hosted by Southern Illinois at Charlotte West Stadium, is set for the upcoming week’s events in Carbondale, Ill. (Wednesday-Saturday, May 6-9). The championship is a double-elimination format, featuring three games each on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, to set up Saturday's championship.

2026 MVC Softball Championship Bracket (PDF)

Championship Central (Schedule, Links, Etc.) -- Click Here for Championship Central

Seeds
1 - Belmont (37-11, 21-5 MVC)
2 - Southern Illinois (33-15, 21-6 MVC)
3 - Murray State (26-21, 17-9 MVC)
4 - UNI (28-22, 16-10 MVC)
5 - Illinois State (27-20, 16-12 MVC)
6 - Evansville (21-28, 12-15 MVC)

Belmont (21-5 MVC) won the MVC softball regular-season championship -- its fist -- and earned the top seed for the league championship. The Bruins have been ranked No. 1 in both the D1 Softball and Softball America Mid-Major Polls for four-consecutive weeks. Belmont has also received votes in the D1 Softball and NFCA Top 25 for four-straight weeks and have appeared in mid-major polls for 12-consecutive weeks. The Bruins won last year's tournament and represented the MVC in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship, while Southern Illinois is the defending regular-season champion.

Right behind Belmont in the standings is this year's host school Southern Illinois. SIU is seeking its sixth MVC tournament trophy. Over the last six seasons, SIU has five total softball titles, with three tournament titles (2021, 2023, 2024) and back-to-back regular-season titles in 2024 and 2025.  SIU, in its history, has six regular-season titles and five tournament titles. Only Illinois State, with six tourney titles, has more MVC tournament titles than any other current league member. The Redbirds are the No. 5 seed in this year's tournament. Murray State is seeded No. 3 and seeking its first MVC softball tournament crown, while No. 4 seed UNI is looking for its third MVC softball tournament crown, and Evansville, the six seed this year, is looking for its second.

Tournament Championships (Current Members Only)
Illinois State - 6
Southern Illinois - 5
Drake - 4
Bradley - 2
Indiana State - 2
UNI - 2
Belmont - 1
Evansville - 1