The Drake Bulldogs will be going for their third straight Missouri Valley Conference championship, this weekend at Enterprise Center. (Photo courtesy: Drake Athletics)

Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

ST. LOUIS, MO — Next weekend, the big boys of NCAA basketball will take over with their conference tournaments all over the country.

But the first weekend of March Madness belongs to the smaller conferences and mid-majors. And none of the mid-major tournaments deliver the joy & excitement of Arch Madness — the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament which will be played at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

The tournament begins on Thursday and will culminate with the championship game on Sunday.

Here’s our quick look at the 12 teams headed to St. Louis for the 2025 version of Arch Madness:

1. Drake (27-3 Overall, 17-3 MVC)

The Bulldogs travel to Saint Louis with an at-large bid on the line, needing at least a win to feel safely in the tournament field, but first-year head coach Ben McCollum and likely-MVC Player of the Year Bennett Stirtz (18.9pts, 5.9asts) desire more than the program’s fourth appearance in the big dance in five years.

2. Bradley (24-7 Overall, 15-5 MVC)

The Braves come into Arch Madness not having won it since the 2018-19 season despite putting together four consecutive winning seasons (the past three all finishing top three in the standings), but this year Duke Deen, in his third season in Peoria, hopes to lead his squad to their first tourney in six years.

3. Northern Iowa (20-11 Overall, 14-6 MVC)

Tytan Anderson and crew fished conference play strong, winning seven of their last nine to finish the season, now heading into Arch Madness, the Panthers look to expand on that momentum with their first MVC tournament championship since 2016.

4. Belmont (21-10 Overall, 13-7 MVC)

The Bruins bring to Saint Louis a three-headed monster in Carter Whitt, Johnathan Pierre and Tyler Lundblade that has the potential to take down a top team if they get hot as they look for their first-ever MVC championship.

5. Illinois State (18-13 Overall, 10-10 MVC)

First-year head coach Ryan Pedon has turned this program around in a way where the Redbirds find themselves in their highest seed since 2018 in Saint Louis; led by Chase Walker averaging 15.1 points and 6.0 rebounds, ISU has a case to make some noise this week.

6. Illinois-Chicago (17-13 Overall, 10-10 MVC)

Boasting wins over both Drake and Bradley, the only team do accomplish such a feat this season, the Flames head into March with a very high boom or bust rate, with the potential to win out at their peak.

7. Murray State (15-16 Overall, 9-11 MVC)

The Racers might be one of the hardest teams in the country to predict, due to them being the only team to beat Drake in Des Moines despite finishing with yet another lackluster record according to the program’s standards, but Jacobi Wood, Terrence Harcum and hot-seated head coach Steve Prohon have the assets to make a deep run if they can find that consistency.

8. Indiana State (14-17 Overall, 8-12 MVC)

In the post Josh Schertz era in Terra Haute, the Sycamores have had some growing pains to say the least, with an at-one-point six-game losing streak in the middle of conference play, but ISU has a win or two up their sleeve if Samage Teel comes alive.

9. Southern Illinois (13-18 Overall, 8-12 MVC)

Finishing up conference play 1-5 in your final six games can be disheartening, but the Salukis are coming off a loss to Indiana State in Terra Haute, so getting some get back to start Arch Madness might be on the docket if Kennard Davis Jr. comes to play.

10. Evansville (11-20 Overall, 8-12 MVC)

The guard-forward duo of Tayshawn Comer and Gabriel Pozzato has and will create matchup problems for a guard-heavy Murray State team in Saint Louis, with Pozzato arguably getting snubbed for MVC freshman of the year, the Purple Aces have the defensive ability on the interior to keep teams from thinking about inside scoring.

11. Valparaiso (13-18 Overall, 6-14 MVC)

The Beacons, who started off conference play 3-2, have been 3-12 since January 11th after a promising start to their conference slate; now looking for a chance at redemption MVC freshman of the year All Wright and Cooper Schweiger will look to turn things around against UIC on Thursday.

12. Missouri State (9-22 Overall, 2-18 MVC)

The Bears’ final season in the MVC has not gone as planned under head coach Cuonzo Martin, but things might be looking toward a possible win if MSU can bring what they have against Drake in two matchups this season.