Get ready for a college basketball extravaganza throughout March.
For the eighth straight year, Evansville’s Ford Center will host the Ohio Valley Conference men’s and women’s basketball tournament. The March 5-8 event features the top eight men’s and women’s teams in the OVC, and the No. 5 University of Southern Indiana women’s team looks to defend its 2024 title.
USI defeated Nashville’s Tennessee State University 90-66 in its opening game of the tournament Wednesday afternoon and will next play the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Automatic NCAA Tournament bids go to the men’s and women’s champions, although USI and Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Missouri, remain ineligible because of Division I transition rules. (USI officials on Feb. 13 announced their intent to accelerate the school’s transition to full membership in Division I athletics.) If USI or Lindenwood win, the regular-season league champion instead will advance to the NCAA.
The following week, March 13-16, the Ford Center hosts the Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament for the first time. All 12 women’s teams in the MVC, including the University of Evansville, Murray State University, Indiana State University, and Southern Illinois University, will be in action. The champion is an automatic NCAA Tournament qualifier.
Finally, Evansville continues its tradition of closing out its own brand of March Madness with the Division II men’s Elite Eight, which will have quarterfinals on March 25, semifinals on March 27, and the national title game on March 29.
The stacked schedule of hoops adds up to a busy month for Brandon McClish, executive director of the Evansville Regional Sports Commission. “What’s crazy about it is that looking at the calendar, March has 31 days, and I am at the Ford Center for 27 of them,” he says.
McClish notes the national television exposure that college basketball tournaments bring the city and the Ford Center. The OVC and women’s MVC championship games are shown on ESPN networks, while the men’s Division II title game is aired by CBS.
The events also deliver an economic jolt to Evansville, although McClish says the OVC packs the biggest punch with 16 men’s and women’s teams.
Past OVC tournaments in Evansville drew thousands of Murray State men’s basketball fans. With the Racers having moved to the MVC in 2022, McClish says the USI women’s team, as well as fan bases from schools such as Morehead State University in Kentucky and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, likely will move the most ticket sales.
The OVC’s men’s and women’s basketball tournament is committed to Evansville for 2026, and the conference holds an option for 2027, which McClish says must be decided by summer of this year.
McClish is optimistic the OVC will stay for 2027 and beyond. “We are looking at extending (the league’s stay in Evansville),” he says. “The presidents and athletic directors love it here.”
Evansville is getting the women’s MVC tournament for this year only. McClish says the competition will be strong — Missouri State University in Springfield leads the league, with Murray State and Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, also having strong seasons.
It’s not yet known, of course, who the men’s Division II Elite Eight will bring to town. Fans can hope for a championship battle as exciting as 2024, when Minnesota State University in Mankato won its first-ever title on a late-game shot.
The Elite Eight has been played on the Ford Center’s court annually since 2021, and in 2019, 2015, and 2014. Roberts Municipal Stadium hosted the event from its beginning in 1957 through 1976, and again in 2002.
This year’s Elite Eight will be Evansville’s last one, at least for a while. It leaves for Indianapolis in 2026 — the Hoosier State’s capital city is hosting the NCAA Division I, II, and III men’s basketball championships next year.
Fort Wayne, Indiana, landed the Elite Eight men’s and women’s events for 2027 and 2028. McClish says Evansville will bid with the NCAA to recapture the Elite Eight in future years.
In the meantime, Evansville is chasing another high-profile college basketball showcase.
McClish tells Evansville Living that the city is a finalist to host the semifinals and finals of the new NCAA Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament in 2026. The 2024 championship, won by the University of Illinois over Villanova University, was held at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This year’s tournament also is at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
The NCAA WBIT would bring Evansville a Division I championship, likely with nationally known teams, McClish says. He expects to learn by summer if Evansville has landed the tournament.
It’s time for ‘Arch Madness,’ too
The MVC men’s tournament, which has been anchored in St. Louis, Missouri, for 34 years, is coming up, as well. UE heads to “Arch Madness” March 6-9 at Enterprise Center.
The Aces are the No. 10 seed in the 12-team tournament and will play No. 7 seed Murray State at 6 p.m. March 6. The winner advances to face No. 2 seed Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, at 6 p.m. March 7.
Arch Madness is circled on the annual calendar of devoted Aces fans such as Scott and Stephanie Morris, who are making the trip again this year with friends Don Shymanski and Kelly Gates, purple attire in tow.
Between games, the group enjoys exploring St. Louis. Ballpark Village outside Busch Stadium is one popular pregame and postgame hangout for MVC fans.
“We have a good time going and supporting and being fans,” Stephanie says.
