Ten teams battled for a spot in the NCAA Tournament at the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, and the fifth-ranked Bradley Braves came out on top, besting Northern Iowa in the MVC finals.
Arch Madness 2019: Bracket, schedule, and scores for MVC tournament
Loyola-Chicago is the tournament top seed for the second year in a row.
Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images
Loyola-Chicago finished tied with Drake atop the conference during the regular season, with the Ranblers earning the tiebreaker thanks to a pair of wins over the Bulldogs. In seniors Clayton Custer and Marques Townes, Loyola-Chicago returned its top two scorers from last year’s miracle run to the Final Four.
Drake captured its first shared or outright MVC regular season title since 2008, which was also their only NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 48 years.
Missouri State beat Loyola-Chicago in both regular season matchups and split with Drake, with the Bears seeded fourth, tied in conference standings with No. 3 seed Southern Illinois.
The stakes
There won’t be an at-large bid from the MVC this year, with Drake the only team in the conference ranked even in the top 100 in RPI. The leaves Arch Madness is the lone path to the NCAA Tournament for these teams, with Chris Dobbertean listing the MVC as a one-bid league in his latest bracketology.
Format
All 10 Missouri Valley teams make the conference tournament, with the top six seeds earning a bye into the second round. The MVC Tournament begins Thursday in St. Louis, with the semifinals set for Saturday and the championship game on Sunday.
Teams & seeds
- Loyola-Chicago Ramblers (12-6)
- Drake Bulldogs (12-6)
- Southern Illinois Salukis (10-8)
- Missouri State Bears (10-8)
- Bradley Braves (9-9)
- Northern Iowa Panthers (9-9)
- Illinois State Redbirds (9-9)
- Indiana State Sycamores (7-11)
- Valparaiso Crusaders (7-11)
- Evansville Purple Aces (5-13)
Bracket & schedule
The semifinals and championship game will be televised by CBS Sports Network on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, with online streaming on CBS Sports.
Full bracket (PDF): Missouri Valley Conference
Here is the MVC tournament schedule, with all times ET.
Thursday, March 7
Game 1: No. 8 Indiana State 55, No. 9 Valparaiso 77
Game 2: No. 7 Illinois State 65, No. 10 Evansville 60
Friday, March 8
Game 3: No. 1 Loyola-Chicago 67, Valparaiso 54
Game 4: No. 5 Bradley 61, No. 4 Missouri State 58
Game 5: No. 2 Drake 78, No. 7 Illinois State 62
Game 6: No. 6 Northern Iowa 61, No. 3 Southern Illinois 58
Saturday, March 9
Game 7: No. 5 Bradley 53, No. 1 Loyola-Chicago 51
Game 8: No. 6 Northern Iowa 60, No. 2 Drake 58
Sunday, March 10
Championship Game: No. 5 Bradley 57, No. 6 Northern Iowa 54
See More:
