ST. LOUIS — Arch Madness is underway in downtown St. Louis.
The annual Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament is taking place March 2-5 at Enterprise Center. The first game kicked off Thursday at noon, with Northern Iowa beating Illinois State 75-62.
For the first time in its 33-year history, the tournament features a 12-team field.
An automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament is at stake. ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi currently projects the conference tournament winner as the only MVC team to make it to the big dance.
The Bradley Braves enter the tournament as the top seed after finishing the regular season on a 10-game winning streak.
Here's the full tournament schedule:
Thursday, March 2
Game 1: #9 Illinois State (away) vs. #8 Northern Iowa (home) – 12:07 p.m. Central
Game 2: #12 Evansville (away) vs. #5 Indiana State (home) – 2:37 p.m. Central
Game 3: #10 Valparaiso (away) vs. #7 Murray State (home) – 6:07 p.m. Central
Game 4: #11 UIC (away) vs. #6 Missouri State (home) – 8:37 p.m. Central
Friday, March 3
Game 5: Winner Game #1 (away) vs. #1 Bradley (home) – 12:07 p.m. Central
Game 6: Winner Game #2 (away) vs. #4 Belmont (home) – 2:37 p.m. Central
Game 7: Winner Game #3 (away) vs. #2 Drake (home) – 6:07 p.m. Central
Game 8: Winner Game #4 (away) vs. #3 Southern Illinois (home) – 8:37 p.m. Central
Saturday, March 4
Game 9: Winner Game #5 vs. Winner Game #6 –2:35 p.m. Central
Game 10: Winner Game #7 vs. Winner Game #8 – 5:05 p.m. Central
Sunday, March 5
Game 11: Winner Game #9 vs. Winner Game #10 – 1:10 p.m. Central
According to MVC, Arch Madness is the second-longest neutral site tenured collegiate tournament in the United States.
For more information on the tournament, click here.
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