• NCAA Interactive Bracket | PDF Bracket
For the first time since 1987, the Ohio Valley Conference has placed two teams into the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship field.
Murray State earned the automatic bid by winning the OVC Tournament Championship while Belmont earned an at-large bid, the first league team to do so since Middle Tennessee (1987).
Murray State is a No. 12 seed and will play No. 5 seed Marquette (24-9) on Thursday in Hartford, Connecticut (approximately 3:30 p.m. CT on TBS). That game is part of the West Region and a rematch from the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The winner of the game will advance the winner of the No. 4 Florida State/No. 13 Vermont matchup on Saturday.
Belmont is a No. 11 seed and will play No. 11 seed Temple (23-9) in the First Four in Dayton on Tuesday (8:10 p.m. CT, TruTV). The only other time an OVC team played in the Opening Round/First Four in Dayton was in 2009 when Morehead State defeated Alabama State (a win that started a stretch of four-straight years with NCAA wins for OVC teams). The winner will advanced to play No. 6 seed Maryland (22-10) in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday (approxmiately 2:10 p.m. CT, TruTV) as part of the East Region.
Murray State (27-4, 16-2 OVC) is making its second-straight and 17th overall NCAA Tournament appearance. The Racers have also appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 1964, 1969, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997,1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2018. MSU is 3-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, having won games in 1988, 2010 and 2012.
Belmont (26-5, 16-2 OVC) is playing its eighth NCAA Tournament (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015) and first time 2015. The Bruins, who shared the OVC regular season championship with MSU this season, are 0-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Belmont had won 14 games in a row before falling to Murray State in the OVC Tournament Title Game.
OVC teams are 24-69 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.