2025–26 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season

2025–26 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams11
TV partner(s)ESPN, CBSSN, Gray Media
Regular Season
2025–26 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Belmont 2 – 0   1.000 11 – 1   .917
Northern Iowa 1 – 0   1.000 9 – 2   .818
Murray State 1 – 0   1.000 9 – 3   .750
Illinois State 1 – 0   1.000 9 – 3   .750
Bradley 1 – 0   1.000 8 – 4   .667
Valparaiso 0 – 0   – 6 – 5   .545
Indiana State 0 – 1   .000 7 – 5   .583
Drake 0 – 1   .000 6 – 6   .500
Southern Illinois 0 – 1   .000 6 – 6   .500
Evansville 0 – 1   .000 4 – 8   .333
UIC 0 – 2   .000 4 – 7   .364
† 2026 MVC tournament winner
As of December 18, 2025

The 2025–26 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2025, followed by the start of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play is scheduled to begin in December 2025 and end in March of 2026. Drake is the defending conference champion, having made the NCAA tournament in 2025 after winning both the MVC regular season and tournament titles.

With the departure of Missouri State to Conference USA, the conference comprises eleven teams. It is the lowest total of teams since the 2021-22 season, when there were only ten teams in the conference prior to the addition of Belmont and Murray State from the OVC, and UIC from the Horizon League.[1][2]

Head coaches

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Year at school Overall record MVC record MVC championships NCAA Tournaments
Belmont Casey Alexander Lipscomb 7 140-54 39-21 0 0
Bradley Brian Wardle Green Bay 11 181-145 97-85 2 1
Drake Eric Henderson South Dakota State 1 0-0 0-0 0 0
Evansville David Ragland Butler
(asst.) 		4 33-66 15-45 0 0
Illinois State Ryan Pedon Ohio State
(asst.) 		4 48-52 25-35 0 0
Indiana State Matthew Graves Indiana State
(asso. HC) 		2 14-18 8-12 0 0
Murray State Ryan Miller Creighton
(asst.) 		1 0-0 0-0 0 0
Northern Iowa Ben Jacobson Northern Iowa
(asst.) 		20 374-246 209-139 4 4
Southern Illinois Scott Nagy Wright State 2 14-19 8-12 0 0
UIC Rob Ehsan Stanford
(asst.) 		2 17-14 10-10 0 0
Valparaiso Roger Powell Jr. Gonzaga
(asst.) 		3 22-44 9-31 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes the 2025–26 season.
  • Overall and MVC records are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2024-25 season.

Preseason

Preseason polls

The Missouri Valley Conference identified only the top five teams in its annual coaches, staff, and media poll for the 2025-26 season, and published its list of preseason conference "players to watch".[3]

When the league fell short with that poll in late September, the MVC media collaborated and conducted a poll among 20 league beat writers to establish a ranking for all 11 teams, plus the conventional first and second All-Valley team selections.[4]

Rank Team
1. Illinois State (14)
2. Northern Iowa (1)
3. Bradley (2)
4. Murray State (2)
5. Belmont
6. Drake (1)
7. Southern Illinois
8. UIC
9. Indiana State
10. Valparaiso
11. Evansville
(first-place votes)

Preseason Missouri Valley media teams

Honor Recipient
MVC Media First Team Chase Walker, Illinois State
Johnny Kinziger, Illinois State
Tyler Lundblade, Belmont
Trey Campbell, Northern Iowa
Jaquan Johnson, Bradley
MVC Media Second Team Connor Turnbull, Evansville
Fred King, Murray State
Isaiah Stafford, Southern Illinois
Ahmad Henderson II, UIC
Demarion Burch, Bradley

Source[5]

Regular season

Early season tournaments

The following table summarizes the multiple-team events (MTE) or early-season tournaments in which teams from the Missouri Valley Conference will participate.[6]

Team Tournament Dates Result
Belmont Coconut Hoops November 24-26 Royal Palm Division
Champions
Bradley ESPN Events Invitational November 24-26 Adventure Bracket
3rd Place
Drake Emerald Coast Classic November 28-29 Lost vs LSU†
Won vs Georgia Tech†
Evansville Paradise Jam November 21-24 5th Place
Illinois State ESPN Events Invitational November 27-28 Imagination Bracket
Champions
Indiana State Louisiana Tech MTE November 26-29 Lost vs Louisiana Tech†
Lost vs Alcorn State†
Murray State Cayman Islands Classic November 23-25 Lost vs Middle Tennessee†
Lost vs McNeese†
Won vs George Washington†
Northern Iowa Acrisure Holiday Invitational November 25-26 2nd Place
Southern Illinois Jacksonville Classic November 23-25 Won vs Delaware†
Lost vs UAB†
UIC Boardwalk Battle November 20–22 3rd Place
Valparaiso BBN United Tipoff Classic November 4-14 Won vs Eastern Illinois
Won vs Nicholls
Lost at Kentucky

† Denotes Neutral Site

MVC records vs other conferences

The MVC has a record of 73–44 in non-conference play during the regular season.
The MVC has a record of 0–0 during tournament play.

Record against ranked opponents

This is a list of games against ranked opponents only (rankings from the AP Poll at time of the game):

Date Visitor Home Site Significance Score Conference record
Nov. 4 Evansville No. 1 Purdue Mackey Arena
West Lafayette, IN		 - 51-82 0-1
Nov. 7 Valparaiso No. 9 Kentucky Rupp Arena
Lexington, KY		 BBN United Tipoff Classic 59-107 0-2
Nov. 14 Indiana State No. 4 Duke Cameron Indoor Stadium
Durham, NC		 − 62-100 0−3

† Denotes Neutral Site
Thru December 10, 2025

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.[7]
Thru December 17, 2025

  Belmont Bradley Drake Evansville Illinois
State 		Indiana
State 		Murray
State 		Northern
Iowa 		Southern
Illinois 		UIC Valpo
vs BU – 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0
vs BR 0-0 – 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs DU 0-0 0-0 – 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs UE 1-0 0-0 0-0 – 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs IlSU 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 – 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs InSU 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 – 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs MrSU 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 – 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs UNI 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 – 0-0 0-1 0-0
vs SIU 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 – 0-0 0-0
vs UIC 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 – 0-0
vs VU 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 –
Total 2–0 – – 0–1 – – – 1–0 – 0–2 –

Player of the week

Periodically, throughout the season, the Missouri Valley Conference named a player of the week, a newcomer of the week, and a freshman of the week.

Date Player of the week Newcomer
of the week 		Freshman of the week
November 10, 2025[8] Jaquan Johnson, Bradley Ian Scott, Indiana State Ty’Reek Coleman, Illinois State
November 17, 2025[9] Javon Jackson, Murray State Quel'Ron House, Southern Illinois Rakim Chaney, Valparaiso
November 24, 2025[10] Trey Campbell, Northern Iowa Mekhi Lowery, UIC Rakim Chaney (2), Valparaiso
December 1, 2025[11] Tyler Lundblade, Belmont Jalen Quinn, Drake Roman Domon, Murray State
December 8, 2025[12] Connor Turnbull, Evansville Owen Dease, Valparaiso Mason Klabo, Illinois State
December 15, 2025[13] Leon Bond III, Northern Iowa Layne Taylor, Murray State Jack Smiley, Belmont

Honors and awards

All-Conference awards and teams

The MVC will announce its all-conference teams and major honors in March 2026.

Honor Recipient
Larry Bird Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Defensive MVP
Sixth Man of the Year
Newcomer of the Year
Freshman of the Year
First Team TBA
Second Team TBA
Third Team TBA

Postseason

MVC Tournament

2026 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The winner of the MVC tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Seed Region School First Four Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
- - - - - - -
W–L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) Total: 0–0 (–)

National Invitation Tournament

MVC teams that participate in the 2026 NIT will be tracked here.

School First round Second Round Quarterfinal Semifinal Championship
TBD - - - - -
W–L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) Total: 0–0 (–)

College Basketball Invitational

MVC teams that receive an invite to the 2026 CBI tournament will be tracked here.

Seed School First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
- - - -
W–L (%): 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) Total: 0–0 (–)

References

  1. ^ Dent, Bucky (June 30, 2022). "MVC welcomes Belmont, Murray State, UIC". The Southern. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  2. ^ "Loyola Chicago leaving MVC to join Atlantic 10". ESPN.com. November 16, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  3. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Preseason Special Airs on Field of 68". mvc-sports.com. September 29, 2025. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  4. ^ Eminian, Dave. "Where Missouri Valley Conference media picked Bradley and its players". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  5. ^ Eminian, Dave. "Where Missouri Valley Conference media picked Bradley and its players". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  6. ^ Dobbertean, Chris (June 28, 2025). "2025-26 Men's College Basketball Exempt Multi-Team Event (MTE) Tracker". SB Nation. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  7. ^ "2025-26 Men's Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  8. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook - 11-10-2025". mvc-sports.com. November 10, 2025. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  9. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook - 11-17-2025". mvc-sports.com. November 17, 2025. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  10. ^ "Missouri Valley MBB Weekly Update 11.24.25". mvc-sports.com. November 24, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  11. ^ "Missouri Valley MBB Weekly Update 12.01.25". mvc-sports.com. December 1, 2025. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  12. ^ "Missouri Valley MBB Weekly Update 12.08.25". mvc-sports.com. December 8, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  13. ^ "Missouri Valley Men's Basketball Notebook 12-15-2025". mvc-sports.com. December 15, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
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