1979 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1979 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament was held February 27–March 3; the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds were played on campus sites and the final was contested at the Hulman Center on the campus of Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana.

1979 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1978–79
Teams	8
Site	Campus sites
Finals site	Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana
Champions	Indiana State (1st title)
Winning coach	Bill Hodges (1st title)
MVP	None selected
Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournaments

1978–79 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Indiana State †	16	–	0		1.000			33	–	1		.971
New Mexico State	11	–	5		.688			22	–	10		.688
Wichita State	8	–	8		.500			14	–	14		.500
Creighton	8	–	8		.500			14	–	13		.519
Southern Illinois	8	–	8		.500			15	–	13		.536
Drake	8	–	8		.500			15	–	12		.556
Tulsa	7	–	9		.438			13	–	14		.481
West Texas State	3	–	13		.188			8	–	19		.296
Bradley	3	–	13		.188			9	–	17		.346
† 1979 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Led by future Basketball Hall of Fame member Larry Bird, top-seeded Indiana State defeated New Mexico State in the championship game, 69–59, to win their first MVC tournament title.

The Sycamores subsequently received an automatic bid to the 1979 NCAA tournament, where they would advance to the national championship game.

Format

Even without any new Missouri Valley Conference members, the conference decreased the size of the tournament field from nine to eight. In turn, only the top eight teams from the conference's regular season standings were included in the bracket.

All eight qualifying teams were placed into the first round, seeded and paired based on regular season conference records. The highest-seeded team in each game served as the host.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Tuesday, February 27 Campus Sites					Semifinals Thursday, March 1 Campus Sites					Final Saturday, March 3 Hulman Center
	1	No. 1 Indiana State *	94
	8	West Texas State	84
						1	No. 1 Indiana State *	79
						5	Southern Illinois	72
	4	Creighton *	67
	5	Southern Illinois	71
											1	No. 1 Indiana State *	69
											2	New Mexico State	59
	2	New Mexico State *	85
	7	Tulsa	79
						2	New Mexico State *	85
						3	Wichita State	81
	3	Wichita State *	70
	6	Drake	69

Note: * indicates host institution