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.

1978 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1977–78
Teams	9
Site	Campus sites
Finals site	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Champions	Creighton (1st title)
Winning coach	Tom Apke (1st title)
Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournaments

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

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

Preliminary rounds

	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

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