Valley Women’s Games on ESPN

Editor: The following is part of a press release from mvc-sports.com.

(St. Louis, MO) –  Now in its 117th season, the Missouri Valley Conference has selected a 24-game women’s basketball package for distribution on ESPN’s networks during the 2023-24 academic year, MVC Commissioner Jeff Jackson announced today.

For the third-consecutive year, the 2024 MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament title game will air on ESPNU.  The first 10 tournament contests will be shown exclusively on ESPN+, the leading sports streaming service.

With its 2024 neutral site championship — known as Hoops in the Heartland — the Missouri Valley Conference becomes the only Division I stand-alone women’s basketball event to be held in the same city nine or more consecutive years.

The Valley — in its final year of a 10-year agreement with ESPN — will also clear a 13-game, regular-season slate via ESPN+.

Additional regular-season women’s basketball games produced by MVC institutions will be delivered exclusively by The Valley on ESPN — also available via the ESPN App on smartphones, tablets, connected streaming devices with TV Everywhere credentials.

The MVC has seen an average of four league teams participate in postseason play in the last 24 seasons. The Valley has earned multiple NCAA Tournament bids in 14 different seasons, including four out of the last six seasons.

The Conference finished the 2022-23 campaign rated 13th in the NCAA’s NET rankings — marking the fourth-straight season the league finished in the top 13 nationally.

Last season, Belmont, Drake, Illinois State, Missouri State and Northern Iowa all reached 20 wins, with all five teams reaching the NCAA or WNIT fields.  It marked the first time in league history that five teams reached 20 or more victories in the same campaign.

The league-selected schedule tips off on Saturday, Dec. 30, with UNI visiting Missouri State at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri.

Each MVC member school receives at least one appearance in the league-selected, regular-season package.

The 2024 Hoops in the Heartland event will match the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern, Big Ten and Big 12 Conference tournaments, as the only Division I stand-alone women’s basketball championships to be held at a neutral site for 16 or more consecutive years.