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 8 men's basketball teams 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) NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) Coin flip
Tournament champions Year Champion Score Runner-up Tournament MVP Venue Location Notes1984Western Illinois73–64Cleveland StateTodd Hutcheson, WIUHammons Student CenterSpringfield, Missouri1985Eastern Illinois75–64Southwest Missouri StateNone chosenFirst rounds at campus sites1986Cleveland State70–66Eastern IllinoisKevin Duckworth, EIU1987Southwest Missouri State90–87Cleveland StateWinston Garland, SMS1988Not held1989Southwest Missouri State73–67Illinois-ChicagoHubert Henderson, SMSHammons Student CenterSpringfield, Missouri1990Northern Iowa53–45Green BayJason Reese, UNIUNI-DomeCedar Falls, Iowa1991Green Bay56–39Northern IllinoisTony Bennett, UWGBBrown County Veterans Memorial ArenaGreen Bay, Wisconsin1992Eastern Illinois83–68Illinois-ChicagoSteve Rowe, EIUCSU Convocation CenterCleveland, Ohio1993Wright State94–88Illinois-ChicagoBill Edwards, WSUNutter CenterDayton, Ohio1994Green Bay61–56Illinois-ChicagoSherell Ford, UICRosemont HorizonRosemont, Illinois1995Valparaiso88–85 (3OT)Western IllinoisBryce Drew, VUAthletics-Recreation CenterValparaiso, IndianaFirst rounds at campus sites1996Valparaiso75–52Western IllinoisBryce Drew, VUThe MARK of the Quad CitiesMoline, Illinois1997Valparaiso63–59Western IllinoisJanthony Joseph, WIU1998Valparaiso67–48Youngstown StateBryce Drew, VU1999Valparaiso73–69Milo Stovall, VU2000Valparaiso71–62Southern UtahLuboš Bartoň, VUAllen County War Memorial ColiseumFort Wayne, Indiana2001Southern Utah62–59ValparaisoFred House, SUU2002Valparaiso88–55IUPUIMilo Stovall, VU2003IUPUI66–64ValparaisoJosh Murray, IUPUIKemper ArenaKansas City, Missouri2004Valparaiso75–70IUPUIOdell Bradley, IUPUI2005Oakland61–60Rawle Marshall, OUUnion Multipurpose Activity CenterTulsa, Oklahoma 2006Oral Roberts85–72Chicago StateKen Tutt, ORU2007 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 IllinoisNate 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 StateMike Daum, SDSU 2017 South Dakota State 79–77 Omaha & Individual session attendance record (11,235) 2018 South Dakota State 97–87 South Dakota 2019 North Dakota State 73–63 OmahaVinnie 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, SDSUDenny Sanford Premier Center 2023 Oral Roberts 92–58 North Dakota State Max Abmas, ORU 2024 South Dakota State 76–68 Denver William Kyle III, SDSU First Final on CBSSN 2025 Omaha 85–75 St. Thomas Marquel Sutton, UNO First Semifinals on CBSSN 2026 North Dakota State 70–62 North Dakota Damari Wheeler-Thomas, NDSU 2027
Performance by school School Championships ChampionshipYears Valparaiso 8 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 South Dakota State 7 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 North Dakota State 6 2009, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2026 Oral Roberts 5 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021, 2023 Oakland 3 2005, 2010, 2011 Southwest Missouri State 2 1987, 1989 Eastern Illinois 2 1985, 1992 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 2003Omaha 1 2025 TOTAL 42
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, St. Thomas and South Dakota have reached the tournament final but failed to win the championship, while Kansas City has 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).
NCAA Tournament appearances Year Summit League Team Opponent Result 1986 (14) Cleveland State (3) Indiana(6) Saint Joseph's(7) Navy W 83–79W 75–69L 70–71 1987 (13) Southwest Missouri State (4) Clemson(5) Kansas W 65–60L 63–67 1988 (13) Southwest Missouri State (4) UNLV L 50–54 1989 (14) Southwest Missouri State (3) Seton Hall L 51–60 1990 (9) Southwest Missouri State (8) North Carolina L 70–83(14) Northern Iowa(3) Missouri(6) MinnesotaW 74–71L 78–81 1991 (12) Green Bay (5) Michigan State L 58–60(13) Northern Illinois(4) St. John'sL 68–75 1992 (15) Eastern Illinois (2) Indiana L 55–94 1993 (16) Wright State (1) Indiana L 54–97 1994 (12) Green Bay (5) California(4) Syracuse W 61–57L 59–64 1995 No automatic qualifier 1996 (14) Valparaiso (3) Arizona L 51–90 1997 (12) Valparaiso (5) Boston College L 66–73 1998 (13) Valparaiso (4) Ole Miss(12) Florida State(8) Rhode Island W 70–69W 83–77OTL 68-74 1999 (15) Valparaiso (2) Maryland L 60–82 2000 (16) Valparaiso (1) Michigan State L 38–65 2001 (14) Southern Utah (3) Boston College L 65–68 2002 (13) Valparaiso (4) Kentucky L 68–83 2003 (16) IUPUI (1) Kentucky L 64–95 2004 (15) Valparaiso (2) Gonzaga L 49–76 2005 (16) Oakland (16) Alabama A&M(1) North Carolina W 79–69L 68–96 2006 (16) Oral Roberts (1) Memphis L 78–94 2007 (14) Oral Roberts (3) Washington State L 54–70 2008 (13) Oral Roberts (4) Pittsburgh L 63–82 2009 (14) North Dakota State (3) Kansas L 74–84 2010 (14) Oakland (3) Pittsburgh L 66–89 2011 (13) Oakland (4) Texas L 81–85 2012 (14) South Dakota State (3) Baylor L 60–68 2013 (13) South Dakota State (4) Michigan L 56–71 2014 (12) North Dakota State (5) Oklahoma(4) San Diego State W 80–75OTL 44–63 2015 (15) North Dakota State (2) Gonzaga L 76–86 2016 (12) South Dakota State (5) Maryland L 74–79 2017 (16) South Dakota State (1) Gonzaga L 46–66 2018 (12) South Dakota State (5) Ohio State L 73–81 2019 (16) North Dakota State (16) North Carolina Central(1) Duke W 78–74L 62–85 2021 (15) Oral Roberts (2) Ohio State(7) Florida(3) Arkansas W 75–72OTW 81–78L 70–72 2022 (13) South Dakota State (4) Providence L 57–66 2023 (12) Oral Roberts (5) Duke L 51–74 2024 (15) South Dakota State (2) Iowa State L 65–82 2025 (15) Omaha (2) St. John's L 53–832026(14) North Dakota State(3) Michigan StateL 67–92 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
Television coverage Year Network Play-by-play Analyst Sideline2026CBSSNChris LewisNoah BuonoEmily Proud2025Jordan KentTim Doyle2024John Sadak2023ESPN2Clay MatvickKevin Lehman2022 Elaina Lanson2021 Kevin Fitzgerald Dalen Cuff2020Clay Matvick Bryce Drew Elaina Lanson2019Sean Harrington201820172016 Bob Wischusen2015Clay Matvick2014 Darrin Horn2013Bob Valvano20122011Lou CanellisMike Kelley20102009 Dave Barnett Tim Welsh 2008ESPNRon FranklinFran Fraschilla 2007 2006 2005ESPN2 Bob Carpenter Donny Marshall 2004 Dave StraderTim McCormick 2003 Chris Marlowe 2002 2001 Dave Barnett Quinn Buckner 2000 Derrin Horton 1999 Chris Marlowe 1998 Craig Bolerjack Terry Gannon 1997 Dave Strader Leo Rautins 1996 Tom Mees Jay Bilas 1995 Gus Johnson Clark Kellogg 1994ESPNTim Brando Larry Conley 1993Clark Kellogg 1992 1991 Wayne Larrivee 1990 Sean McDonoughMike Rice 1989 Jim Kelly
See also Summit League women's basketball tournament
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