1997 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament

1997 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	8
Site	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
Champions	Valparaiso (3rd title)
Winning coach	Homer Drew (3rd title)
MVP	Janthony Joseph (Western Illinois)
Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournaments

1996–97 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Valparaiso †	13	–	5		.722			24	–	7		.774
Buffalo	11	–	5		.688			17	–	11		.607
Western Illinois	11	–	5		.688			19	–	10		.655
Troy State	10	–	6		.625			16	–	11		.593
Northeastern Illinois	8	–	8		.500			16	–	12		.571
Missouri-Kansas City	7	–	9		.438			10	–	17		.370
Chicago State	4	–	12		.250			4	–	23		.148
Central Connecticut State	4	–	12		.250			8	–	19		.296
Youngstown State	4	–	12		.250			9	–	18		.333
† 1997 Mid-Con Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1997 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 2–4, 1997, at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois.[2] This was the 14th edition of the tournament for the Association of Mid-Continent Universities/Mid-Continent Conference, now known as the Summit League.

Top-seeded Valparaiso defeated #3 seed Western Illinois 63–59 to earn an automatic berth into the 1997 NCAA tournament.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 2					Semifinals March 3					Finals March 4
	1	Valparaiso	97
	8	Central Connecticut	73
						1	Valparaiso	88*
						4	Northeastern Illinois	82
	4	Northeastern Illinois	75
	5	UMKC	48
											1	Valparaiso	63
											3	Western Illinois	59
	3	Western Illinois	66
	6	Youngstown State	64
						3	Western Illinois	80
						2	Buffalo	77
	2	Buffalo	81
	7	Chicago State	58

[3]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1996-97 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary
2. "Men's Basketball All-Time Results (updated through 2017-18 season)" (PDF). Valparaiso University. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
3. "1996-97 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary".