1978 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1978 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament was held February 27–March 5; the first two rounds were played on campus sites with the semifinal and final contested at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska, hosted by Creighton University.[1]

1978 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1977–78
Teams9
SiteCampus sites
Finals siteOmaha Civic Auditorium
Omaha, Nebraska
ChampionsCreighton (1st title)
Winning coachTom Apke (1st title)
← 1977
1979 →
1977–78 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Creighton 12 4   .750 19 9   .679
Southern Illinois 11 5   .688 17 10   .630
Indiana State 11 5   .688 23 9   .719
New Mexico State 9 7   .563 15 14   .517
Bradley 8 8   .500 14 14   .500
Wichita State 8 8   .500 13 14   .481
Tulsa 7 9   .438 9 18   .333
West Texas State 4 12   .250 8 19   .296
Drake 2 14   .125 6 22   .214
1978 MVC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

In a battle of conference newcomers, top-seeded Creighton defeated third-seeded Indiana State in the title game, 54–52, to win their first MVC tournament title.

The Bluejays, in turn, received a bid to the 1978 NCAA tournament.

Format

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With the addition of Creighton and Indiana State to the MVC, the tournament field increased from seven to nine.

With all teams seeded based on regular season conference records, the highest-seeded team received a triple-bye to the championship game. The remaining eight teams were placed into the first round of traditional eight-team single-elimination bracket, pairings based on seed. The winner of this preliminary bracket would then face the top seed in the title game.

Bracket

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Preliminary rounds

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First round
Monday, February 27
Campus Sites
Second round
Wednesday, March 1
Campus Sites
Semifinal
Friday, March 3
Omaha Civic Auditorium
         
2 Southern Illinois * 59
9 Drake 75
9 Drake 73
4 New Mexico State * 90
4 New Mexico State * 76
7 Tulsa 75
4 New Mexico State 78 2OT
3 Indiana State 80
3 Indiana State * 90
8 West Texas State 71
3 Indiana State * 88
5 Bradley 81
5 Bradley * 75
6 Wichita State 71

Note: * indicates host institution

Championship

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Final
Sunday, March 5
Omaha Civic Auditorium
   
1 Creighton 54
3 Indiana State 52

References

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  1. ^ "1977-78 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2018.