1997 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1997 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament was the final event of the 1996–97 season in the Ohio Valley Conference. The tournament was held February 25–March 1, 1997, at Nashville Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.

1997 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	8
Site	Nashville Arena Nashville, Tennessee
Champions	Murray State (8th title)
Winning coach	Mark Gottfried (1st title)
Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournaments

1996–97 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Austin Peay	12	–	6		.667			17	–	14		.548
Murray State †	12	–	6		.667			20	–	10		.667
Middle Tennessee	11	–	7		.611			19	–	12		.613
Tennessee Tech	10	–	8		.556			15	–	13		.536
Eastern Illinois	9	–	9		.500			12	–	15		.444
Southeast Missouri State	9	–	9		.500			12	–	18		.400
UT Martin	8	–	10		.444			11	–	16		.407
Tennessee State	7	–	11		.389			9	–	18		.333
Morehead State	6	–	12		.333			8	–	19		.296
Eastern Kentucky	6	–	12		.333			8	–	18		.308
† 1997 OVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Murray State defeated Austin Peay in the championship game, 88–85 in OT, to win their eighth overall OVC men's basketball tournament.

The Racers received an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament as the No. 15 seed in the Southeast region.

Format

Eight of the ten conference members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with play beginning in the quarterfinal round. Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin did not participate.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 6					Semifinals Wednesday, March 7					Championship Thursday, March 8
	1	Austin Peay	106
	8	Morehead State	83
						1	Austin Peay	70
						4	Tennessee Tech	60
	4	Tennessee Tech	83
	5	Eastern Illinois	81
											1	Austin Peay	85OT
											2	Murray State	88
	3	Middle Tennessee	89
	6	Southeast Missouri State	74
						3	Middle Tennessee	48
						2	Murray State	74
	2	Murray State	76
	7	Tennessee State	63