MVC Basketball: 2023 conference tournament preview and predictions

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 9: Head coach Brian Wardle of the Bradley Braves directs his team against the Loyola Ramblers during the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 9, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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MVC Basketball Darian Davis of the Drake Bulldogs (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

After decades of being a ten-team league, MVC Basketball has expanded to twelve teams this season and all twelve teams are coming to St. Louis. The conference tournament, known as ‘Arch Madness’ begins with four first-round games Thursday at Enterprise Center.

For the first time in the tournament’s St. Louis history, there will be eleven games, and the top four teams have all earned a bye into the championship’s quarter-final round. Previously six teams were free from the rigors of playing four games in four days.

Regular season champ Bradley, second place Drake and Southern Illinois, and Belmont who tied for third place, earned their free pass to Friday’s activities. Arch Madness tips off with four games on Thursday and four more on Friday. MVC tie-breakers made SIU the third seed and Belmont comes to St. Louis at number four.

Bradley comes to the tournament riding a ten-game winning streak, including Sunday’s home win over Drake to earn the title. The regular season championship is Bradley’s first since 1996 and they earned the championship trophy in front of a sold-out, Carver Arena crowd of 10,458.

Bradley (23-8, 16-4) isn’t the Valley’s only outstanding team. The league set a record with five teams entering Arch Madness with at least 20 victories. Preseason favorite Drake who led the way with 24 wins, saw their own ten-game winning streak snapped Sunday in Peoria, Illinois. Twenty-win owner Indiana State (20-11, 13-7), dropped its last two games to slip to fifth place.

Arch Madness is the second-longest neutral-site collegiate tournament, following only the Big East. The eight-nine game between Northern Iowa and Illinois State launches the tournament and noon on Thursday.

Drake has lost consecutive title games to the departed Loyola-Chicago team, making Bradley the current Valley program with the most recent tournament title (2020). That was Bradley’s second straight tournament win. No other current Valley member has claimed the top prize since UNI won it in 2016.