Summit League men's basketball tournament explained
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.
Format
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
| 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 | None chosen | First rounds at campus sites |
| 1986 | Cleveland State | 70–66 | Eastern Illinois | Kevin Duckworth, EIU | |
| 1987 | Southwest Missouri State | 90–87 | Cleveland State | Winston Garland, SMS | |
| 1988 | Not held |
| 1989 | Southwest Missouri State | 73–67 | Illinois-Chicago | 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 | Steve Rowe, EIU | CSU Convocation Center | Cleveland, Ohio | |
| 1993 | Wright State | 94–88 | Illinois-Chicago | Bill Edwards, WSU | Nutter Center | Dayton, Ohio | |
| 1994 | Green Bay | 61–56 | Illinois-Chicago | 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 | | 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 | | 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 | 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 | |
Performance by school
| School | Championships | Years |
|---|
| Valparaiso | align=center | 8 | 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 |
| South Dakota State | align=center | 7 | 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 |
| Oral Roberts | align=center | 5 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021, 2023 |
| North Dakota State | 5 | 2009, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020 |
| Oakland | align=center | 3 | 2005, 2010, 2011 |
| Eastern Illinois | align=center | 2 | 1985, 1992 |
| Southwest Missouri State | align=center | 2 | 1987, 1989 |
| Wisconsin-Green Bay | align=center | 2 | 1991, 1994 |
| Western Illinois | align=center | 1 | 1984 |
| Cleveland State | align=center | 1 | 1986 |
| Northern Iowa | 1 | 1990 |
| Wright State | 1 | 1993 |
| Southern Utah | 1 | 2001 |
| IUPUI | align=center | 1 | 2003 |
| TOTAL | align=center | 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
See also
Notes and References
- Web site: 2022-23 Summit League Basketball Schedules Released. thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. August 3, 2022. January 13, 2023.
- Web site: Summit League announces Championship dates for 2023-24. thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. July 27, 2023. August 7, 2023.
- News:
- SummitMBB Year End Notebook
. 2017-04-10. The Summit League. 2017-04-13. en.
- http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/02/28/championship-week-presented-by-dick%e2%80%99s-sporting-goods-schedule/?s-sporting-goods-schedule/
- Web site: Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone . 2010-12-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100412122753/http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2010/03/championship-week-begins-thursday-march-4/ . 2010-04-12 .
- Web site: 20090226_ChampionshipWeekBeginsMarch5 . 2009-03-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090307005937/http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_releases/2009_02_feb/20090226_ChampionshipWeekBeginsMarch5.htm . 2009-03-07 .
- http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_releases/2008_03_mar/20080303_ChampionshipWeek.htm{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- Web site: What to Watch: College basketball lovers rejoice . 2009-03-01 . dead . https://archive.today/20090207080430/http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/MYSA03022007_whattowatch_11f571e4_html9032.html . 2009-02-07 .
