The Summit League men's basketball tournament, popularly known as The Summit League at the Falls, is the post-season tournament for NCAA Division I conference Summit League. The winner of the tournament receives the Summit League's automatic bid into the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. The tournament was first played in 1984, when the league was known as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU). The league was also known as the Mid-Continent Conference from 1989 to 2007, after which it was renamed to The Summit League.

Summit League men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
The Summit League Conference tournament logo (2008–present)
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceSummit League
Number of teamsAll 9 conference teams
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumDenny Sanford Premier Center
Current locationSioux Falls, South Dakota
Played1984–present
Last contest2024
Current championSouth Dakota State (7)
Most championshipsValparaiso (8)
TV partner(s)Midco Sports, CBS Sports Network
Official websiteTheSummitLeague.org Men's Basketball

Format

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Currently, all 9 men's basketball teams[1][2] in the Summit League receive a berth in the conference tournament (barring NCAA sanctions). Before the 2022-23 season, only the top 8 conference teams (by conference record) made the tournament. After the 16-game conference season, teams are seeded by conference record with the following tie-breakers:

  • Head-to-head competition
  • Winning percentage vs. ranked conference teams (starting with #1 and moving down until the tie is broken)
  • Ratings Percentage Index
  • Coin flip

Tournament champions

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Year Champion Score Runner-Up MVP Venue Location Notes
1984 Western Illinois 73–64 Cleveland State Todd Hutcheson, WIU Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri
1985 Eastern Illinois 75–64 Southwest Missouri State[a] None chosen First rounds at campus sites
1986 Cleveland State 70–66 Eastern Illinois Kevin Duckworth, EIU
1987 Southwest Missouri State[a] 90–87 Cleveland State Winston Garland, SMS
1988 Not held
1989 Southwest Missouri State[a] 73–67 Illinois-Chicago[b] Hubert Henderson, SMS Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri
1990 Northern Iowa 53–45 Green Bay Jason Reese, UNI UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa
1991 Green Bay 56–39 Northern Illinois Tony Bennett, UWGB Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Green Bay, Wisconsin
1992 Eastern Illinois 83–68 Illinois-Chicago[b] Steve Rowe, EIU CSU Convocation Center Cleveland, Ohio
1993 Wright State 94–88 Illinois-Chicago[b] Bill Edwards, WSU Nutter Center Dayton, Ohio
1994 Green Bay 61–56 Illinois-Chicago[b] Sherell Ford, UIC Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois
1995 Valparaiso 88–85 (3OT) Western Illinois Bryce Drew, VU Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana First rounds at campus sites
1996 Valparaiso 75–52 Western Illinois Bryce Drew, VU The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
1997 Valparaiso 63–59 Western Illinois Janthony Joseph, WIU
1998 Valparaiso 67–48 Youngstown State Bryce Drew, VU
1999 Valparaiso 73–69 Oral Roberts Milo Stovall, VU
2000 Valparaiso 71–62 Southern Utah Luboš Bartoň, VU Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Fort Wayne, Indiana
2001 Southern Utah 62–59 Valparaiso Fred House, USU
2002 Valparaiso 88–55 IUPUI Milo Stovall, VU
2003 IUPUI 66–64 Valparaiso Josh Murray, IUPUI Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
2004 Valparaiso 75–70 IUPUI Odell Bradley, IUPUI
2005 Oakland 61–60 Oral Roberts Rawle Marshall, OU Union Multipurpose Activity Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
2006 Oral Roberts 85–72 Chicago State Ken Tutt, ORU
2007 Oral Roberts 71–67 Oakland Ken Tutt, ORU
2008 Oral Roberts 71–64 IUPUI Moses Ehambe, ORU
2009 North Dakota State 66–64 Oakland Ben Woodside, NDSU Sioux Falls Arena Sioux Falls, South Dakota
2010 Oakland 76–64 IUPUI Derick Nelson, OU
2011 Oakland 90–76 Oral Roberts Keith Benson, OU
2012 South Dakota State 52–50 (OT) Western Illinois Nate Wolters, SDSU
2013 South Dakota State 73–67 North Dakota State
2014 North Dakota State 60–57 IPFW[c] Taylor Braun, NDSU
2015 North Dakota State 57–56 South Dakota State Lawrence Alexander, NDSU Denny Sanford Premier Center
2016 South Dakota State 67–59 North Dakota State Mike Daum, SDSU
2017 South Dakota State 79–77 Omaha & Individual session attendance record (11,235)[3]
2018 South Dakota State 97–87 South Dakota
2019 North Dakota State 73–63 Omaha Vinnie Shahid, NDSU
2020 North Dakota State 89–53 North Dakota
2021 Oral Roberts 75–72 North Dakota State Max Abmas, ORU Sanford Pentagon Tournament held without fans
2022 South Dakota State 75–69 North Dakota State Douglas Wilson, SDSU Denny Sanford Premier Center
2023 Oral Roberts 92–58 North Dakota State Max Abmas, ORU
2024 South Dakota State 76–68 Denver William Kyle, SDSU First Final on CBSSN
  1. ^ a b c Known as Missouri State since 2005.
  2. ^ a b c d Now branded as UIC.
  3. ^ Now Purdue Fort Wayne.

Performance by school

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School Championships Years
Valparaiso 8 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004
South Dakota State 7 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024
Oral Roberts 5 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021, 2023
North Dakota State 5 2009, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020
Oakland 3 2005, 2010, 2011
Eastern Illinois 2 1985, 1992
Southwest Missouri State 2 1987, 1989
Wisconsin-Green Bay 2 1991, 1994
Western Illinois 1 1984
Cleveland State 1 1986
Northern Iowa 1 1990
Wright State 1 1993
Southern Utah 1 2001
IUPUI 1 2003
TOTAL 40
  • Teams in bold are currently in the Summit League. Oral Roberts left for the Southland Conference after the 2011–12 season, but returned for 2014–15.
  • Among current Summit League members, Denver, North Dakota, Omaha, and South Dakota have reached the tournament final but failed to win the championship, and Kansas City, and St. Thomas have yet to advance to the tournament final. Kansas City, which rejoined in 2020–21, had competed under its academic identity of UMKC during its previous Summit tenure (1994–95 to 2012–13).

Television coverage

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Year Network Play-by-play Analyst Sideline
2024 CBSSN John Sadak Tim Doyle Emily Proud
2023 ESPN2 Clay Matvick Kevin Lehman
2022
2021 Kevin Fitzgerald Dalen Cuff
2020 Clay Matvick Bryce Drew Elaina Lanson
2019 Sean Harrington
2018
2017
2016 Bob Wischusen
2015 Clay Matvick
2014 Darrin Horn
2013 Bob Valvano
2012
2011[4] ESPN Lou Cannellis Mike Kelley
2010[5] ESPN2
2009[6] Dave Barnett Tim Welsh
2008[7] ESPN Ron Franklin Fran Fraschilla
2007[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2022-23 Summit League Basketball Schedules Released". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. August 3, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "Summit League announces Championship dates for 2023-24". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. July 27, 2023. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  3. ^ "#SummitMBB Year End Notebook". The Summit League. 2017-04-10. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  4. ^ http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/02/28/championship-week-presented-by-dick%e2%80%99s-sporting-goods-schedule/?s-sporting-goods-schedule/
  5. ^ "Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  6. ^ "20090226_ChampionshipWeekBeginsMarch5". Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  7. ^ http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_releases/2008_03_mar/20080303_ChampionshipWeek.htm[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "What to Watch: College basketball lovers rejoice". Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.