Another college basketball tournament coming to Evansville

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – Another college basketball tournament is coming to Evansville.

Officials say the Missouri Valley Conference has announced future sites for the MVC Women’s Basketball Championship. The three-year rotation includes Ford Center in Evansville, in 2025; Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa in 2026 and Vibrant Arena at The MARK in Moline, Illinois in 2027. According to the Evansville Regional Sports Commission, the game will be at the Ford Center.

Officials say In 2024, the Missouri Valley Conference was one of only six conferences in which the women’s basketball championship was played at a neutral site, separate from the men’s championship and on a different weekend.

According to the Evansville Regional Sports Commission, the 2025 MVC Women’s Championship at Ford Center in Evansville will be the 18th-straight year the Conference will conduct a neutral-site championship for women’s basketball.

Officials say all 12 MVC women’s basketball teams will compete in the four-day tournament, with four opening-round games on Thursday, four quarterfinal games on Friday, two semifinal games on Saturday, culminating in a Sunday championship game in each of the next three seasons.  The league tournament champion earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

“We are thrilled to continue to provide our women’s basketball student-athletes with the opportunity to be showcased in a neutral-site, stand-alone tournament,” says Valparaiso President José D. Padilla, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Missouri Valley Conference. “The next three years will give us the opportunity to grow the Missouri Valley Conference’s national brand through visibility in new communities while affording our student-athletes the chance to experience new conference tournament venues. I know the Conference office staff, member institutions, and our championship site hosts will work diligently to continue to provide a first-rate student-athlete and fan experience during our women’s basketball tournament.”

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