# 2017 Horizon League men's basketball tournament

The 2017 Horizon League men's basketball tournament (also known as Motor City Madness) was the conference tournament for the Horizon League. It was played from March 3 through March 7, 2017 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Northern Kentucky defeated Milwaukee 59-53 in the championship game to win the tournament championship. As a result, Northern Kentucky received the conference's automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the first for the Norse in their first season of Division I eligibility.

## Seeds

All 10 teams participated in the tournament. The top six teams receive a bye into the quarterfinals. This was a change from the previous season where the top two seeds received double byes into the semifinals. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Oakland | 14–4 | 2–0 vs. Valparaiso |
| 2 | Valparaiso | 14–4 | 0–2 vs. Oakland |
| 3 | Green Bay | 12–6 | 1–1 vs. Northern Kentucky; 1–1 vs. No. 1 Oakland |
| 4 | Northern Kentucky | 12–6 | 1–1 vs. Green Bay; 0–2 vs. No. 1 Oakland |
| 5 | Wright State | 11–7 | |
| 6 | UIC | 7–11 | |
| 7 | Detroit | 6–12 | |
| 8 | Cleveland State | 5–13 | 1–1 vs. Youngstown State; 1–1 vs. No. 1 Oakland |
| 9 | Youngstown State | 5–13 | 1–1 vs. Cleveland State; 0–2 vs. No. 1 Oakland |
| 10 | Milwaukee | 4–14 | |

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
| First round – Friday, March 3 |||||
| 1 | 5:30 pm | No. 7 Detroit vs. No. 10 Milwaukee | 85–60 | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 8:00 pm | No. 8 Cleveland State vs. No. 9 Youngstown State | 84–69 | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 4 |||||
| 3 | 5:30 pm | No. 1 Oakland vs. No. 9 Youngstown State | 81–80 | ESPN3 |
| 4 | 8:00 pm | No. 2 Valparaiso vs. No. 10 Milwaukee | 43–41 | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Sunday, March 5 |||||
| 5 | 5:00 pm | No. 3 Green Bay vs. No. 6 UIC | 79–70 | ESPN3 |
| 6 | 7:30 pm | No. 4 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 5 Wright State | 82–77 | ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Monday, March 6 |||||
| 7 | 7:00 pm | No. 4 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 9 Youngstown State | 84–74 | ESPNU |
| 8 | 9:30 pm | No. 6 UIC vs. No. 10 Milwaukee | 74–68 | ESPNU |
| Finals – Tuesday, March 7 |||||
| 9 | 7:00 pm | No. 4 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 10 Milwaukee | 59–53 | ESPN |
| All game times in Eastern Time Zone. Rankings denote tournament seed |||||

## Bracket

| First round Friday, March 3 | First round Friday, March 3 | First round Friday, March 3 | Quarterfinals Saturday/Sunday, March 4/5 | Quarterfinals Saturday/Sunday, March 4/5 | Quarterfinals Saturday/Sunday, March 4/5 | Semifinals Monday, March 6 | Semifinals Monday, March 6 | Semifinals Monday, March 6 | Finals Tuesday, March 7 | Finals Tuesday, March 7 | Finals Tuesday, March 7 |
| | | | 1 | Oakland | 80 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Cleveland State | 69 | 9 | Youngstown State | 81 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Youngstown State | 84 | | | | 9 | Youngstown State | 74 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Northern Kentucky | 84 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Northern Kentucky | 82 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Wright State | 77 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 4 | Northern Kentucky | 59 |
| | | | | | | | | | 10 | Milwaukee | 53 |
| | | | 2 | Valparaiso | 41 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Detroit | 60 | 10 | Milwaukee | 43 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Milwaukee | 85 | | | | 10 | Milwaukee | 74 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | UIC | 68 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Green Bay | 70 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | UIC | 79 | | | | | | |