Visit Conference Tournament Central and the 2020 Conference Tournaments Hub for full Championship Fortnight coverage.

2020 OVC Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics

Dates

Wednesday, March 4th (first round), Thursday, March 5th (quarterfinals); Friday, March 6th (semifinals); Saturday, March 7th (championship)

Format

Stepladder bracket

Site(s)

For the third straight year, the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., home of the Missouri Valley’s Evansville Purple Aces, will host the Ohio Valley’s postseason event.

TV/Streaming Info

ESPN2 has the final on Saturday evening. ESPNU will air both semifinals on Friday night. The first round and quarterfinals are streaming on ESPN+ .

Participants

Only the top eight of the conference’s 12 teams qualified. So, the ninth- through 12th-place finishers, the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (9-22, 6-12), the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (8-23, 5-13), UT Martin Skyhawks (9-20, 5-13), and Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (7-24, 3-15), don’t factor in the bracket.

Downloadable Bracket

Schedule

First Round (Wed., March 4)

ESPN+ ($) will stream both games.

Game 1: No. 8 Morehead State Eagles (13-19, 7-11) 67, No. 5 Tennessee State 74 (OT)
The season series was a home split.

Game 2: No. 7 Jacksonville State Gamecocks (13-19, 8-10) 61, No. 6 Eastern Illinois 64
The Panthers won the lone meeting of the season at home.

Quarterfinals (Thu., March 5)

ESPN+ ($) will stream both games.

Game 3: No. 5 Tennessee State Tigers (18-15, 9-9) 48, No. 4 Eastern Kentucky 58
The Colonels swept the season series.

Game 4: No. 6 Eastern Illinois Panthers (17-15, 9-9) 65, No. 3 Austin Peay 76
The season series was a home split.

Semifinals (Fri., March 6)

ESPNU will air both games.

Game 5: No. 4 Eastern Kentucky Colonels (16-17, 12-6) 50, No. 1 Belmont 60
The Bruins swept the season series.

Game 6: No. 3 Austin Peay Governors (21-12, 14-4) 61, No. 2 Murray State 73
The season series was a home split.

Championship (Sat., March 7)

Game 7: No. 2 Murray State Racers (23-9, 15-3) 75, No. 1 Belmont Bruins (26-7, 15-3) 76
The season series was a home split.

10-Year Mayhem Potential

Data from Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter.

Over the past 10 seasons, one of the OVC’s top two seeds has won the automatic bid six times. The No. 1 has a four-to-two advantage over the No. 2, with the second-seed winning last in 2019 and the top seed last triumphing in 2018.

• 1 seed (4): 2010, 2012, 2013, 2018
• 2 seed (2): 2011, 2019
• 3 seed (2): 2014, 2015
• 4 seed (1): 2017
• 8 seed (1): 2016

10-Year NCAA Seeding Record

Years with an NCAA win are in bold.

• 6 seed (1): 2012
• 11 seed (2): 2013, 2019 (at-large)
• 12 seed (2): 2018, 2019
• 13 seed (2); 2010, 2011
• 15 seed (3): 2014, 2015, 2017
• 16 seed (3): 2016

Don’t expect the OVC to earn an at-large this year or earn an 11 or 12 seed like over the past two seasons. Belmont, Murray State, and Austin Peay could all end up as 14 seeds, though a 15 is probably more likely depending on what happens elsewhere over the season’s final week.

Last NCAA Tournament Appearances

Murray State: 2019 (12 seed, 2nd Round)
Belmont: 2019 (11 seed, 1st Round)
Jacksonville State: 2017 (15 seed, 1st Round)
Austin Peay: 2016 (16 seed, 1st Round)
Eastern Kentucky: 2014 (15 seed, 1st Round)
Morehead State: 2011 (13 seed, Round of 64)
Eastern Illinois: 2001 (15 seed, 1st Round)
Tennessee State: 1994 (14 seed, 1st Round)

Southeast Missouri State last qualified in 2000 and Tennessee Tech made its only appearance in 1963, but the Redhawks and Golden Eagles will have to wait until 2021 at a minimum. UT Martin and SIU Edwardsville will also need to wait at least another season to make their first-ever NCAA appearances.

Be sure to follow @ChrisDobbertean on Twitter and to like Blogging the Bracket on Facebook.