Ohio Valley Conference NCAA Tournament Betting

Ohio Valley Conference NCAA Tournament Betting

Morehead State made it to the Big Dance for the first time in a decade last season. The Eagles were one of three teams to finish the regular season with a winning record in the Ohio Valley Conference this year, but Murray State is the clear team to beat. The Racers finished the regular season with a 28-2 record, and they are ranked No. 22 in the nation. They went unbeaten in conference play and finished the season with 18 straight victories after a road loss to Auburn just before Christmas. However, Belmont is always lurking, and the Bruins know they need to knock off the Racers to make the NCAA Tournament.

This is Murray State’s best season since the Racers went 31-2 and were ranked in the top ten a decade ago. The program has proven it is more than just Ja Morant, as Matt McMahon has consistently been able to develop talent. The Racers put themselves on the map with a win over Memphis, and Murray State should be headed to the NCAA Tournament even if they don’t lock up an automatic bid. K.J. Williams is a star, averaging 18.2 PPG and 8.5 RPG to lead Murray State in both categories, while Tevin Brown is a solid second option that is knocking down 39.3% of his threes.

Belmont was clearly the second-best team in the conference this season. The Bruins have made it to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship Game for four straight years, but it will take a lot for them to overcome Murray State as the Racers beat them by 22 points on the road and 33 points at home. Center Nick Muszynski will be vital to their chances as he is averaging 15.9 PPG and making over 60% of his two-point attempts. Ben Sheppard is the only consistent three-point shooter on Belmont though.

Ohio Valley Tournament Format

The Ohio Valley Conference uses a gauntlet style format to determine its automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The two worst teams in the conference are ineligible for the conference tournaments, and the fifth through eighth seeds square off in the first round. The winners of those games will face No. 3 Morehead State and No. 4 Southeast Missouri State in the quarterfinals, and the victors there will take on No. 1 Murray State and No. 2 Belmont in the semifinals. That gives the Racers and Bruins a double bye directly into the semifinals.

All OVC Tournament games will take place at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The first round takes place on Wednesday, March 2, and the quarterfinals will be held on Thursday, March 3. The semifinals will be Friday, March 4, and the OVC Championship Game will be on Saturday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2. This format really helps the best teams in the regular season, while the worse teams in the conference have to win four games in four days to make it to March Madness.

Most Wins All-Time in Ohio Valley Tournament

Would you believe that the OVC Tournament dates all the way back to 1949? It's one of the oldest tournaments out there even though it hasn't always been a given that the winner has gone on to the NCAA Tournament. It's also notable that the tourney hasn't been played every single season.

The nice thing about the OVC is that we've had lots of champions over the years. Jacksonville State became the most recent first-time champion in 2017, winning the tournament title to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since becoming a D-I member in 1995-96. That leaves two current members still waiting for their first invite to the dance: SIU Edwardsville and Tennessee-Martin.

A total of 13 different schools have won the conference tournament: 12 of them since 1981. We've had six different champions of the OVC Tournament since 2011, and that type of parity isn't something that you see in most of the tourneys across the country.

The OVC had a banner season in 2018-19 with two teams qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and each of them getting a win. Murray State received the automatic bid by winning the conference tournament with future NBA star Ja Morant, while Belmont got in as an at-large. The Bruins knocked off Temple in a First Four tilt before falling to Maryland.

Meanwhile, the Racers beat Marquette in the First Round, but failed to make it out of the opening weekend. The last time an OVC member escaped the first weekend of the dance was back in 1973 when Austin Peay reached the Sweet 16.

Ohio Valley Tournament Championship Games

NCAA Basketball Conferences

• America East
• American Athletic
• Atlantic 10
• Atlantic Coast
• Atlantic Sun
• Big 12
• Big East
• Big Sky
• Big South
• Big Ten
• Big West
• Colonial Athletic Association
• Conference USA
• Horizon League
• Ivy League
• Metro Atlantic Athletic
• Mid-American
• Mid-Eastern Athletic
• Missouri Valley
• Mountain West
• Northeast
• Ohio Valley
• Pac-12
• Patriot League
• Southeastern
• Southern
• Southland
• Southwestern Athletic
• Summit League
• Sun Belt
• West Coast
• Western Athletic

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