Here’s a look at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament bracket, with first round action beginning on Wednesday night in Nashville.
An automatic qualifying spot in the NCAA Tournament will be on the line during the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, beginning on Wednesday evening at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville.
The Ohio Valley has been home to a fair amount of intriguing mid-major programs over the years, including Belmont, Murray State and Morehead State. Eight teams will duke it out in the conference tournament until Saturday’s title game, with the top two seeds receiving double byes all the way to the semifinals. Unlike a few other conferences, the bottom four regular season teams are ineligible to play in the OVC tournament, which leaves defending champion Austin Peay at home.
Belmont enters the conference tournament as the top overall seed with a 15-1 record in OVC play and an 22-5 mark overall. The Bruins have won two of the four Ohio Valley Tournaments since moving to the conference in 2013, and feature a dynamic offense that leads the nation in shooting on 2-point attempts at 62.2 percent.
Rick Byrd’s team looks like the heavy favorite, as UT Martin is the No. 2 seed and finished with a record of 10-6 in conference. Still, anything can happen over the next few days, as sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech was the only team to beat Belmont in the OVC regular season.
UT Martin and Jacksonville State are the only two teams in this year’s conference tournament who have never qualified for the Big Dance. The OVC has not won an NCAA Tournament game since Steve Prohm’s Murray State earned a six seed and beat Colorado State in the first round.
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Here’s how the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference bracket stacks up. For a printable version of the bracket, simply click on the image below.
If Belmont wins the conference title, it should be looking at a 13 or 14 seed on Selection Sunday.