2026 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
| 2026 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
Tournament logo | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 11 |
| Site | Enterprise Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Champions | Northern Iowa (6th title) |
| Winning coach | Ben Jacobson (5th title) |
| MVP | Trey Campbell (Northern Iowa) |
| Attendance | 40,119 (Overall) 6,750 (Final) |
| Television | CBS/Paramount+, CBSSN, MVC TV Network/ESPN+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Belmont | 16 | – | 4 | .800 | 26 | – | 6 | .813 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bradley | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois State | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Murray State | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 20 | – | 13 | .606 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UIC | 12 | – | 8 | .600 | 19 | – | 16 | .543 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Iowa † | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 23 | – | 13 | .639 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Valparaiso | 11 | – | 9 | .550 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Illinois | 10 | – | 10 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drake | 6 | – | 14 | .300 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana State | 4 | – | 16 | .200 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Evansville | 3 | – | 17 | .150 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 MVC tournament winner As of March 20, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, popularly referred to as "Arch Madness", was a postseason men's basketball tournament that completed the 2025–26 season in the Missouri Valley Conference. The tournament was held at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri from March 5–8, 2026. The winner, Northern Iowa, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Seeds
Teams are seeded by conference record.
Two-way ties are broken by utilizing head-to-head record; should a tie still remain, the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) rankings the day following all conference teams having completed their regular season will be used.
Three (or more) way ties are broken by first determining the cumulative record for each tied team versus the other teams with the same conference record. Should any teams still remain tied (and there are more than two), the cumulative record would again be used on those remaining teams; should any teams still remain (and there are only two), the two-way approach would be leveraged.[1]
| Seed | School | Conference Record |
Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belmont | 16–4 | |
| 2 | Bradley | 13–7 | |
| 3 | Illinois State | 12–8 | NET (90) |
| 4 | Murray State | 12–8 | NET (101) |
| 5 | UIC | 12–8 | NET (116) |
| 6 | Northern Iowa | 11–9 | NET (81) |
| 7 | Valparaiso | 11–9 | NET (155) |
| 8 | Southern Illinois | 10–10 | |
| 9 | Drake | 6–14 | |
| 10 | Indiana State | 4–16 | |
| 11 | Evansville | 3–17 |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time * | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opening Round – March 5 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 3:30 pm | No. 8 Southern Illinois vs. No. 9 Drake | 63–67 | 8,960 | MVC TV Network/ESPN+ |
| 2 | 6:00 pm | No. 7 Valparaiso vs. No. 10 Indiana State | 63–62 | |||
| 3 | 8:30 pm | No. 6 Northern Iowa vs. No. 11 Evansville | 68–59 | |||
| Quarterfinals – March 6 | ||||||
| 2 | 4 | 12:00 pm | No. 1 Belmont vs. No. 9 Drake | 79–100 | 8,068 | MVC TV Network/ESPN+ |
| 5 | 2:30 pm | No. 4 Murray State vs. No. 5 UIC | 79–92 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 6:00 pm | No. 2 Bradley vs. No. 7 Valparaiso | 90–84 2OT | 8,897 | |
| 7 | 8:30 pm | No. 3 Illinois State vs. No. 6 Northern Iowa | 52–74 | |||
| Semifinals – March 7 | ||||||
| 4 | 8 | 2:30 pm | No. 5 UIC vs. No. 9 Drake | 72–51 | 7,444 | CBSSN |
| 9 | 5:00 pm | No. 2 Bradley vs. No. 6 Northern Iowa | 69–73 | |||
| Final – March 8 | ||||||
| 5 | 10 | 11:00 am | No. 5 UIC vs. No. 6 Northern Iowa | 69–84 | 6,750 | CBS/Paramount+ |
| * Game times in Central Time Zone; rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||||
Bracket
| Opening Round March 5 MVC TV Network/ESPN+ | Quarterfinals March 6 MVC TV Network/ESPN+ | Semifinals March 7 CBSSN | Final March 8 CBS/Paramount+ | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Belmont | 79 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Southern Illinois | 63 | 9 | Drake | 100 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Drake | 67 | 9 | Drake | 51 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | UIC | 72 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Murray State | 79 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UIC | 92 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UIC | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Northern Iowa | 84 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Bradley | 90** | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Valparaiso | 63 | 7 | Valparaiso | 84 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | Indiana State | 62 | 2 | Bradley | 69 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Northern Iowa | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Illinois State | 52 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Northern Iowa | 68 | 6 | Northern Iowa | 74 | ||||||||||||||
| 11 | Evansville | 59 | |||||||||||||||||
Source:[2]
Game summaries
Opening Round
| No. 8 Southern Illinois 63, No. 9 Drake 67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 27–31, 40–32 | ||
| Pts: 28 – Q. House Rebs: 16 – R. Aligbe Asts: 3 – Q. House |
Pts: 22 – J. Quinn Rebs: 11 – A. Alia Asts: 4 – O. Larson | |
| Game 1 | ||
MVC TV Network
|
March 5
6:00 p.m. |
| No. 7 Valparaiso 63, No. 10 Indiana State 62 | ||
| Scoring by half: 37–28, 25–35 | ||
| Pts: 18 – R. Chaney Rebs: 7 – J. Pettigrew Asts: 5 – R. Chaney |
Pts: 13 – C. Wagner Rebs: 8 – C. Wagner Asts: 5 – J. Van Buggenhout | |
| Game 2 | ||
Enterprise Center
St. Louis, MO Referees: Jeff Campbell, James Duke, Kipp Kissinger |
MVC TV Network
|
March 5
8:30 p.m. |
| No. 6 Northern Iowa 68, No. 11 Evansville 59 | ||
| Scoring by half: 35–36, 33–23 | ||
| Pts: 23 – T. Campbell Rebs: 13 – T. Smith Asts: 4 – T. Smith |
Pts: 23 – A. Casey Rebs: 10 – A. Casey Asts: 3 – Tied (2) | |
| Game 3 | ||
Enterprise Center
St. Louis, MO Attendance: 8,960 Referees: Tyler Kumpf, Jeff Malham, Doug Sirmons |
Quarterfinal Round
| No. 1 Belmont 79, No. 9 Drake 100 | ||
| Scoring by half: 41–48, 38–52 | ||
| Pts: 19 – A. Noyes Rebs: 8 – D. Scharnowski Asts: 6 – E. Dillon |
Pts: 31 – J. Quinn Rebs: 8 – O. Larson Asts: 8 – O. Larson | |
| Game 4 | ||
MVC TV Network
|
March 6
2:30 p.m. |
| No. 4 Murray State 79, No. 5 Illinois Chicago 92 | ||
| Scoring by half: 50–32, 42–47 | ||
| Pts: 30 – J. Jackson Rebs: 6 – F. King Asts: 4 – K. Tenner |
Pts: 19 – E. Crawford Rebs: 9 – R. Washington Jr. Asts: 6 – E. Crawford | |
| Game 5 | ||
Enterprise Center
St. Louis, MO Attendance: 8,068 Referees: Tony Padilla, Roland Simmons, Bert Smith |
MVC TV Network
|
March 6
6:00 p.m. |
| No. 2 Bradley 90, No. 7 Valparaiso 84 (2OT) | ||
| Scoring by half: 31–31, 33–33 Overtime: 9–9, 17–11 | ||
| Pts: 18 – Tied (2) Rebs: 9 – A. Smith Asts: 5 – J. Johnson |
Pts: 25 – B. Whitaker Rebs: 13 – J. Pettigrew Asts: 9 – J. Pettigrew | |
| Game 6 | ||
Enterprise Center
St. Louis, MO Referees: Marques Pettigrew, Brooks Wells, Ervin Wilson |
MVC TV Network
|
March 6
8:30 p.m. |
| No. 3 Illinois State 52, No. 6 Northern Iowa 74 | ||
| Scoring by half: 27–35, 25–39 | ||
| Pts: 11 – C. Walker Rebs: 6 – T. Pence Asts: 3 – J. Kinziger |
Pts: 19 – L. Bond III Rebs: 6 – T. Campbell Asts: 6 – W. Hornseth | |
| Game 7 | ||
Enterprise Center
St. Louis, MO Attendance: 8,897 Referees: Ed Crenshaw, Randy Heimerman, Kipp Kissinger |
Semifinal Round
| No. 5 Illinois Chicago 72, No. 9 Drake 51 | ||
| Scoring by half: 34–27, 38–24 | ||
| Pts: 23 – R. Washington Jr. Rebs: 12 – M. Lowery Asts: 5 – M. Lowery |
Pts: 14 – J. Quinn Rebs: 5 – I. Carr Asts: 5 – O. Larson | |
| Game 8 | ||
CBS Sports Network
|
March 7
5:00 p.m. |
| No. 2 Bradley 69, No. 6 Northern Iowa 73 | ||
| Scoring by half: 32–45, 37–28 | ||
| Pts: 12 – T. van der Knapp Rebs: 6 – T. van der Knapp Asts: 5 – J. Johnson |
Pts: 19 – L. Bond III Rebs: 5 – B. Schwieger Asts: 6 – T. Campbell | |
| Game 9 | ||
Enterprise Center
St. Louis, MO Attendance: 7,444 Referees: Randy Heimerman, Kipp Kissinger, Marques Pettigrew |
Final Round
| No. 5 Illinois Chicago 69, No. 6 Northern Iowa 84 | ||
| Scoring by half: 41–48, 28–36 | ||
| Pts: 28 – E. Crawford Rebs: 4 – Tied (2) Asts: 5 – E. Crawford |
Pts: 23 – T. Campbell Rebs: 5 – T. Smith Asts: 7 – T. Smith | |
| Championship | ||
Enterprise Center
St. Louis, MO Attendance: 6,750 Referees: Kipp Kissinger, Maques Pettigrew, Brooks Wells |
Awards and honors
All-Tournament Team
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Leon Bond III | Northern Iowa |
| Trey Campbell MOP | Northern Iowa |
| Elijah Crawford | UIC |
| Jalen Quinn | Drake |
| Rashund Washington Jr. | UIC |
MOP denotes Most Outstanding Player (Doug Elgin Award)
References
- ^ "State Farm MVC Tournament Men’s Basketball Tiebreaker" MVC-Sports.com. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
- ^ "Arch Madness - Missouri Valley Conference". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved March 2, 2026.