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The Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Championship will take place from March 5th-8th at the Enterprise Center in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It’s the 30th year the event has been in St. Louis, and the “Arch Madness” nickname has stuck for what is always one of the premier postseason events in college basketball.
As of now the Northern Iowa Panthers are the favorite, and the rest of the league will need an upset to displace a team that is probably getting an at-large bid anyway.
All games will be available for viewing on the MVC TV Network, with the semifinals on CBS Sports Network, and the final on CBS. Let’s take a look at the bracket.
March 5 (ESPN+)
Game 1: No. 9 Illinois State 65-75 No. 8 Drake 7:05 p.m. ET
Game 2: No. 10 Evansville 55-58 No. 7 Valparaiso 9:35 p.m. ET
March 6 (ESPN+)
Game 3: No. 8 Drake 77-56 No. 1 Northern Iowa vs. 1:05 p.m. ET
Game 4: No. 5 Southern Illinois 59-64 No. 4 Bradley, 3:35 p.m. ET
Game 5: No. 7 Valparaiso 74-73 (OT) No. 2 Loyola, 7:05 p.m. ET
Game 6: No. 6 Missouri State 78-51 No. 3 Indiana State, 9:35 p.m. ET
March 7 (CBS Sports Network)
Game 9: No. 8 Drake 66-76 No. 4 Bradley, 3:35 p.m. ET
Game 10: No. 7 Valparaiso 89-82 No. 3 Missouri State, 6:05 p.m. ET
March 8 (CBS Sports)
Championship: No. 7 Valparaiso 66-80 Game 10 No. 4 Bradley 2:10 p.m. ET
The MVC has only one team that might receive an at-large bid in the Northern Iowa Panthers. Jerry Palm has them as a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament as of now, but that could change with some late conference losses or other movement. For the other nine teams, the only way to advance to the Big Dance is to win out in St. Louis and be crowned conference champion.