Editor: The following is part of a press release from mvc-sports.com
MTE’s Launch the Coverage
(St. Louis, MO) – The Missouri Valley Conference will have an exclusive 39-game men’s basketball schedule on ESPN platforms during the 2024-25 academic year, Commissioner Jeff Jackson announced Tuesday.
The Valley — in its first year of a five-year agreement with ESPN — will clear productions on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN+, the leading sports streaming service.
Additional regular-season men’s basketball games produced by MVC institutions will be delivered exclusively through The Valley on ESPN — the league’s co-branded digital network with ESPN available through the ESPN App.
Men’s basketball coverage begins in November, as Bradley, Drake and Northern Iowa will compete in three neutral-site, multi-team events presented on ESPN platforms.
Bradley will play in the Myrtle Beach Invitational in Conway, South Carolina, and meet Texas State in an ESPNU first-round contest on November 21.
Drake will participate in the Shriners Children’s Classic in Charleston, South Carolina, and meet Miami (Fla.) in an ESPN2 or ESPNU first-round contest on November 21.
UNI will compete in the NIT Season Tip-off in Orlando, Florida, and meet North Texas in an ESPNU first-round contest on November 28.
Multi-team event participation continues for the Conference in December, as Murray State will compete in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu.
The Racers will meet Nebraska in an ESPN2 first-round tilt on December 22.
There will be four regular season games on ESPN2 and a total of six contests on ESPNU.
For eight of the 10 telecasts, ESPN and The Valley will utilize a Wildcard Selection process to determine which game will be aired on a specific date.
The Valley has also selected an 18-game, regular-season digital exclusive men’s basketball package streaming on ESPN+.
Postseason coverage from the 2025 State Farm MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament — known uniquely as Arch Madness — in St. Louis includes four opening-round games on March 6 and four quarterfinal contests on March 7.
Those telecasts are distributed on Gray Media linear over-the-air stations within the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee and available nationally on ESPN+
The Arch Madness semifinals on March 8 and the title game on March 9 will be shown on CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports, respectively, as part of a sublicense agreement between ESPN and CBS Sports.
CBS Sports has carried the title contest of Arch Madness every year since 2006 after ESPN or ESPN2 had served as the television home for that telecast from 1991 to 2005.
Twitter Feed
The final pre-Christmas weekly all-stars of the @ValleyHoops & @OVCSports. With very rare exceptions, it's all about league play now for these leagues.
Now @DrakeBulldogsMB has moved into the top spot in @collegeinsider #midmajortop25 poll. @BradleyUMBB is 4th. @BelmontMBB is 17th.
.@SEMOMBB wins at home and is 2-0, tied with @MSUEaglesMBB atop the @OVCSports. Our prayers are with the @LRTrojans after the death of one of their managers Josh Claxton. Their game with EIU was postponed today.
Good officiating in the @SEMOMBB/@SIUEMBB in a little late game dust up.
