The 2020–21 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play begins in January 2021 and ended in March 2021.

This was the final season for Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State as OVC members. On January 29, 2021, the ASUN Conference announced that both schools would join that conference on July 1 of that year.

Preseason Awards The preseason coaches' poll and league awards were announced by the league office on November 4, 2020."Austin Peay and Murray State Picked as 2020-21 OVC Men's Basketball Co-Favorites; Govs' Taylor Tabbed Preseason Player of the Year" ovcsports.com. Retrieved 2020-02-01.

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll RankTeam T1. Austin Peay (9)- 226 T1. Murray State (10)- 226 3. Belmont (5)- 214 4. Eastern Kentucky- 173 5. Eastern Illinois- 153 6. Tennessee State- 139 7. Jacksonville State- 124 8. Morehead State- 87 9. Tennessee Tech- 84 10. UT-Martin- 80 11. SIU Edwardsville- 48 12. Southeast Missouri State- 30(first place votes)

Honors

Preseason All-OVC TeamJordyn Adams, Austin PeayTevin Brown, Murray StateJomaru Brown, Eastern KentuckyJr. Clay, Tennessee TechTre King, Eastern KentuckyCarlos Marshall Jr., Tennessee StateGrayson Murphy, BelmontNick Muszynski, BelmontMack Smith, Eastern IllinoisParker Stewart, UT MartinTerry Taylor, Austin PeayJosiah Wallace, Eastern IllinoisKJ Williams, Murray State

Conference matrix  Austin PeayBelmontEastern IllinoisEastern KentuckyJacksonville StateMorehead StateMurray StateSE Missouri StateSIU EdwardsvilleTennessee StateTennessee TechUT Martinvs. Austin Peay – 1−01−11−12−01−01−11−10−20−21−11−1vs. Belmont0−1 – 0−21−10−21−10−20−10−20−20−20−2vs. Eastern Illinois1−12−0 – 2−01−01−00−22−01−11−11−12–0vs. Eastern Kentucky1–11−10−2 – 0−21−11−01−10–10−20–20−2vs. Jacksonville State0−22−00−12−0 – 2−00−20−10–10–20−20−2vs. Morehead State0−11−10−11−10−2 – 0−20−21–10–20−20–2vs. Murray State1−12−02−00−12−02−0 – 0–20−20−11−10−2vs. SE Missouri State1–11−00−21−11−02−02–0 – 0−20−21−12−0vs. SIU Edwardsville2−02−01−11–01–01–12−02−0 – 0−20−10–2vs. Tennessee State2−02−01−12−02–02–01−02−02−0 – 1−10−1vs. Tennessee Tech1−12–01−12−02−02−01−11−11−01−1 − 1−0vs. UT Martin1−12−00–22−02−02–02−00−22−01−00−1 –Total10−1018−26−1415−513−617−310−109−117−123−175−156−14

All-OVC awards

Ohio Valley men's basketball weekly awards

WeekPlayer(s) of the WeekSchoolNewcomer of the WeekSchoolNov 30Dec 7Dec 14Dec 21 Dec 28Jan 4Jan 11Jan 18Jan 25Feb 1Feb 8Feb 15Feb 22Mar 1

References