2021 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

2021 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams10
SiteEnterprise Center
St. Louis, Missouri
ChampionsLoyola-Chicago (2nd title)
Winning coachPorter Moser (2nd title)
MVPCameron Krutwig (Loyola-Chicago)
TelevisionCBS, CBSSN, MVC TV
← 2020
2022 →
2020–21 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 17 Loyola Chicago † 16 – 2   .889 26 – 5   .839
Drake 15 – 3   .833 26 – 5   .839
Missouri State 12 – 6   .667 17 – 7   .708
Indiana State 11 – 7   .611 15 – 10   .600
Evansville 7 – 11   .389 9 – 16   .360
Valparaiso 7 – 11   .389 10 – 18   .357
Northern Iowa 7 – 11   .389 10 – 15   .400
Bradley 6 – 12   .333 12 – 16   .429
Southern Illinois 5 – 13   .278 12 – 14   .462
Illinois State 4 – 14   .222 7 – 18   .280
† 2021 MVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2021 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament, popularly referred to as "Arch Madness", was a postseason men's basketball tournament that completed the 2020–21 season in the Missouri Valley Conference. The tournament was held at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri from March 4–7, 2021.

Despite the conference being the only conference to complete their entire conference schedule in the 2020-21 season, the tournament was marred by a positive COVID test in the Northern Iowa program prior to their quarterfinal matchup against Drake. Despite subsequent negative tests, contact tracing combined with St. Louis health protocols required UNI to forfeit the game advancing Drake to the next round.[1]

Seeds

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Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by the overall record in conference games played between the tied teams, then (if necessary) by comparison of records between the tying institutions versus the top team in the standings (and continuing from top to bottom of standings, as necessary, with the team having the better record against that team receiving the better seed). The top six seeds received opening–round byes.[2]

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker 1 Tiebreaker 2
1 Loyola-Chicago 16–2
2 Drake 15–3
3 Missouri State 12–6
4 Indiana State 11–7
5 Evansville 7–11 4–0 vs.
VU, UNI
6 Valparaiso 7–11 1–3 vs.
UE, UNI 		0–2 vs. LU,
1–1 vs. DU
7 Northern Iowa 7–11 1–3 vs.
UE, VU 		0–2 vs. LU,
0–2 vs. DU
8 Bradley 6–12
9 Southern Illinois 5–13
10 Illinois State 4–14

Schedule

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Game Time * Matchup Score Television
Opening Round – Thursday, March 4
1 5:08 pm #8 Bradley vs. #9 Southern Illinois 63–73 MVC TV
2 8:08 pm #7 Northern Iowa vs. #10 Illinois State 65–60
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 5
3 11:08 am #1 Loyola-Chicago vs. #9 Southern Illinois 73–49 MVC TV
4 2:08 pm #4 Indiana State vs. #5 Evansville 53–43
5 5:08 pm #2 Drake vs. #7 Northern Iowa Canceled[A]
6 8:08 pm #3 Missouri State vs. #6 Valparaiso 66–55
Semifinals – Saturday, March 6
7 12:05 pm #1 Loyola-Chicago vs. #4 Indiana State 65–49 CBSSN
8 3:05 pm #2 Drake vs. #3 Missouri State 71–69
Final – Sunday, March 7
9 1:10 pm #1 Loyola-Chicago vs. #2 Drake 75–65 CBS
* Game times in CST; rankings denote tournament seed.

[4]

Tournament bracket

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Opening Round
Thursday, March 4
MVC TV 		Quarterfinals
Friday, March 5
MVC TV 		Semifinals
Saturday, March 6
CBSSN 		Final
Sunday, March 7
CBS
            
1 No. 20 Loyola-Chicago 73
9 Southern Illinois 49
8 Bradley 63
9 Southern Illinois 73
1 No. 20 Loyola-Chicago 65
4 Indiana State 49
4 Indiana State 53
5 Evansville 43
1 No. 20 Loyola-Chicago 75
2 Drake 65
2 Drake
7 Northern Iowa[A]
7 Northern Iowa 65
10 Illinois State 60
2 Drake 71
3 Missouri State 69
3 Missouri State 66
6 Valparaiso 55

[5]

Postseason History Multiple Bids

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NCAA tournament
MVC NCAA Tournament Teams
2021 (8) Loyola (Chicago) (11) Drake

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Northern Iowa withdrew from the MVC Tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test, which led to the game being cancelled, and Drake advancing in the tournament.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "MVC Statement on Cancelation of UNI-Drake Men's Basketball Game".
  2. ^ "MVC Basketball – Regular Season Title Eligibility Standard" MVC-Sports.com. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  3. ^ "MVC STATEMENT ON CANCELATION OF UNI-DRAKE MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME". MVC-Sports. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "MVC MEN'S BASKETBALL MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE UPDATE" (PDF). MVC-Sports. March 1, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament 2021 Bracket" (PDF). MVC-Sports. February 28, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
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