The Basics
Drake men's basketball aims to claim its third consecutive State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title hosted at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis March 6-9. Drake's first matchup will be in the quarterfinal round against either No. 8 Southern Illinois or No. 9 Indiana State on Friday, March 7 at noon.
 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Drake is 29-43 all-time in the MVC Tournament with three tournament titles (2008, 2023 and 2024).

This will be head coach Ben McCollum's first time coaching in the MVC Tournament.

Drake has made three straight championship game appearances.

Prior to the 2019-20 season, the Bulldogs only had one MVC Tournament win since 2013.
 
AS THE NO. 1 SEED
Drake is the No. 1 seed for the second time in program history.

The Bulldogs are 3-0 all-time as the MVC Tournament No. 1 seed winning the championship in 2008.
 
MVC AWARDS RECAP
Bennett Stirtz became the third player in league history to earn the Larry Bird Trophy in his first season in the MVC. Player of the Year was not the only honor given to the Liberty, Mo., native, however. Stirtz was also named Newcomer of the Year, selected First Team All-MVC, and named to the All-Newcomer Team. McCollum was named Coach of the Year and is the 14th rookie coach to win the league's Coach of the Year award, which was first presented in 1949.
 
Also receiving recognition was junior Tavion Banks as the league's Sixth Man of the Year and Team Captain of the All-Bench Team. Meanwhile, Mitch Mascari earned a Third Team All-MVC and Scholar-Athlete First Team selection, Daniel Abreu was placed on the All-Defensive Team, and Cam Manyawu was named to the Scholar-Athlete Second Team.
 
MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Since the 2018-19 campaign, the Bulldogs are the only team in the MVC to win 20-plus games over the last seven seasons.
2018-19: 24            2021-22: 25           2024-25: 27
2019-20: 20            2022-23: 27          
2020-21: 26            2023-24: 28
 
VS. THE BRACKET
During the regular season, Drake was 8-0 against the teams in its half of the bracket.

The Bulldogs were 9-3 against the other half of the bracket.
 
MAKING IT TO SATURDAY
Drake has advanced to the semifinal round 12 times in program history. The Bulldogs have qualified for the semifinal round of the MVC Tournament in six consecutive seasons.

Drake has been in the semifinals in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2008, 1993, 1989, 1986, 1981 and 1977.
 
MAKING IT TO SUNDAY
Drake has made four consecutive MVC Tournament championship games.

Drake has advanced to the MVC Tournament championship game in 2008, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.