Who Will Win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament?

With the conference tournament set for March 7 through March 10 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri Valley Conference hoops will be on full display.

The St. Louis Blues will graciously embark on a five-game road trip, lending their home arena to college basketball for a few days. As is tradition, the MVC will send all 12 of its teams to "Gateway City" to decide who will punch their ticket to the big dance.

With Thursday's tipoff looming around the corner, let's dive into FanDuel's Missouri Valley Conference tournament odds along with the bracket, betting odds and best bets -- which schools have a realistic chance to represent "The Valley" at March Madness?

All NCAA basketball odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Bracket

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Odds

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Best Bets

Indiana State (+155)

As MVC regular-season champs, the Indiana State Sycamores have been brilliant under head coach Josh Schertz this season. In just his third year at post, Schertz has already won at least 23 games in a campaign on two separate occasions.

The Sycamores just completed the regular season with a 26-5 overall record. Within MVC play, Indiana State shined at 17-3; those conference losses came at Drake, versus Illinois State and at Southern Illinois.

In all, the Sycamores earned their first regular-season Valley title dating back to the 1999-2000 season. When it comes to winning the conference tourney, Indiana State has found success a bit more recently, last doing the deed in 2011.

At FanDuel Sportsbook, this group from Terre Haute, Indiana has the shortest odds to win the MVC Tournament. The Sycamores earned the conference's No. 1 seed; that means ISU will enjoy a first-round bye, awaiting the winner of Missouri State and Murray State.

At numberFire, Indiana State (10.81 nERD) is viewed as the 41st-ranked team in men's Division I basketball. Simultaneously, that rating is also tops amongst The Valley. Seemingly, this appears to be the Sycamores' year.

Drake (+220)

As the pride of Iowa's capital city, the Drake Bulldogs have been a MVC powerhouse under head coach Darian DeVries.

DeVries took over the men's basketball program at Drake University in 2019. Since then, the Bulldogs have compiled a 147-54 (.731) regular-season record. Additionally, Drake won the conference tournament as recently as last year. Right now, FanDuel Sportsbook is labeling the team from Des Moines with +220 odds to accomplish that feat for the second consecutive season.

For a third straight year, junior guard Tucker DeVries has been Drake's top scorer. He is -- as the surname would suggest -- the son of Coach DeVries, but Tucker certainly doesn't need to benefit from any nepotism; the younger DeVries is shining behind 21.9 PPG and 69 RPG on the year. Additionally, he was last year's Missouri Valley Tournament MVP.

The Bulldogs earned the MVC's 2 seed. That translates to a first-round bye before playing the winner of Evansville and Illinois State; Drake supporters might take a sigh of relief there considering the Bulldogs went 4-0 against the aforementioned programs this year.

Bradley (+360)

Representing Peoria, Illinois, the Bradley Braves men's basketball team has won 20 or more games in back-to-back campaigns. Upon completion of the recent regular season, Bradley sits at 21-10 (13-7 MVC), which was sufficient for third place in The Valley.

Like the referenced higher seeds, the Braves will not be tasked with a game in Thursday's first round. However, on Friday, Bradley will duel either Southern Illinois or Illinois-Chicago. When it comes to UIC, the Braves trounced the Flames twice this season by an average margin of 14.0 points.

Coach Brian Wardle is in his ninth season leading Bradley. Through that time, he has compiled a 156-136 (.534) regular season record. That is not exactly a dominant clip, but Wardle coached the Braves to back-to-back conference tournament titles in 2019 and 2020.

Bradley also played in last season's Valley championship game, losing by 26 points to Drake. Needing a bit of revenge, Bradley will likely see Drake in the conference semifinals on March 9th -- will Wardle's Braves deliver down the river in St. Louie?

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.