# Summit League men's basketball tournament

The Summit League men's basketball tournament, popularly known as The Summit League at the Falls, is the post-season tournament for NCAA Division I conference Summit League. The winner of the tournament receives the Summit League's automatic bid into the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. The tournament was first played in 1984, when the league was known as the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (AMCU). The league was also known as the Mid-Continent Conference from 1989 to 2007, after which it was renamed to The Summit League.

## Format

Currently, all 9 men's basketball teams in the Summit League receive a berth in the conference tournament (barring NCAA sanctions). Before the 2022-23 season, only the top 8 conference teams (by conference record) made the tournament. After the 16-game conference season, teams are seeded by conference record with the following tie-breakers:
* Head-to-head competition
* Winning percentage vs. ranked conference teams (starting with #1 and moving down until the tie is broken)
* NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET)
* Coin flip

## Tournament champions

| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up | Tournament MVP | Venue | Location | Notes |
| 1984 | Western Illinois | 73–64 | Cleveland State | Todd Hutcheson, WIU | Hammons Student Center | Springfield, Missouri | |
| 1985 | Eastern Illinois | 75–64 | Southwest Missouri State | None chosen | Hammons Student Center | Springfield, Missouri | First rounds at campus sites |
| 1986 | Cleveland State | 70–66 | Eastern Illinois | Kevin Duckworth, EIU | Hammons Student Center | Springfield, Missouri | |
| 1987 | Southwest Missouri State | 90–87 | Cleveland State | Winston Garland, SMS | Hammons Student Center | Springfield, Missouri | |
| 1988 | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held | Not held |
| 1989 | Southwest Missouri State | 73–67 | Illinois-Chicago | Hubert Henderson, SMS | Hammons Student Center | Springfield, Missouri | |
| 1990 | Northern Iowa | 53–45 | Green Bay | Jason Reese, UNI | UNI-Dome | Cedar Falls, Iowa | |
| 1991 | Green Bay | 56–39 | Northern Illinois | Tony Bennett, UWGB | Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena | Green Bay, Wisconsin | |
| 1992 | Eastern Illinois | 83–68 | Illinois-Chicago | Steve Rowe, EIU | CSU Convocation Center | Cleveland, Ohio | |
| 1993 | Wright State | 94–88 | Illinois-Chicago | Bill Edwards, WSU | Nutter Center | Dayton, Ohio | |
| 1994 | Green Bay | 61–56 | Illinois-Chicago | Sherell Ford, UIC | Rosemont Horizon | Rosemont, Illinois | |
| 1995 | Valparaiso | 88–85 (3OT) | Western Illinois | Bryce Drew, VU | Athletics-Recreation Center | Valparaiso, Indiana | First rounds at campus sites |
| 1996 | Valparaiso | 75–52 | Western Illinois | Bryce Drew, VU | The MARK of the Quad Cities | Moline, Illinois | |
| 1997 | Valparaiso | 63–59 | Western Illinois | Janthony Joseph, WIU | The MARK of the Quad Cities | Moline, Illinois | |
| 1998 | Valparaiso | 67–48 | Youngstown State | Bryce Drew, VU | The MARK of the Quad Cities | Moline, Illinois | |
| 1999 | Valparaiso | 73–69 | Oral Roberts | Milo Stovall, VU | The MARK of the Quad Cities | Moline, Illinois | |
| 2000 | Valparaiso | 71–62 | Southern Utah | Luboš Bartoň, VU | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Fort Wayne, Indiana | |
| 2001 | Southern Utah | 62–59 | Valparaiso | Fred House, SUU | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Fort Wayne, Indiana | |
| 2002 | Valparaiso | 88–55 | IUPUI | Milo Stovall, VU | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum | Fort Wayne, Indiana | |
| 2003 | IUPUI | 66–64 | Valparaiso | Josh Murray, IUPUI | Kemper Arena | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| 2004 | Valparaiso | 75–70 | IUPUI | Odell Bradley, IUPUI | Kemper Arena | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| 2005 | Oakland | 61–60 | Oral Roberts | Rawle Marshall, OU | Union Multipurpose Activity Center | Tulsa, Oklahoma | |
| 2006 | Oral Roberts | 85–72 | Chicago State | Ken Tutt, ORU | Union Multipurpose Activity Center | Tulsa, Oklahoma | |
| 2007 | Oral Roberts | 71–67 | Oakland | Ken Tutt, ORU | Union Multipurpose Activity Center | Tulsa, Oklahoma | |
| 2008 | Oral Roberts | 71–64 | IUPUI | Moses Ehambe, ORU | Union Multipurpose Activity Center | Tulsa, Oklahoma | |
| 2009 | North Dakota State | 66–64 | Oakland | Ben Woodside, NDSU | Sioux Falls Arena | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2010 | Oakland | 76–64 | IUPUI | Derick Nelson, OU | Sioux Falls Arena | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2011 | Oakland | 90–76 | Oral Roberts | Keith Benson, OU | Sioux Falls Arena | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2012 | South Dakota State | 52–50 (OT) | Western Illinois | Nate Wolters, SDSU | Sioux Falls Arena | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2013 | South Dakota State | 73–67 | North Dakota State | Nate Wolters, SDSU | Sioux Falls Arena | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2014 | North Dakota State | 60–57 | IPFW | Taylor Braun, NDSU | Sioux Falls Arena | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2015 | North Dakota State | 57–56 | South Dakota State | Lawrence Alexander, NDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2016 | South Dakota State | 67–59 | North Dakota State | Mike Daum, SDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2017 | South Dakota State | 79–77 | Omaha | Mike Daum, SDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | & Individual session attendance record (11,235) |
| 2018 | South Dakota State | 97–87 | South Dakota | Mike Daum, SDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2019 | North Dakota State | 73–63 | Omaha | Vinnie Shahid, NDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2020 | North Dakota State | 89–53 | North Dakota | Vinnie Shahid, NDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2021 | Oral Roberts | 75–72 | North Dakota State | Max Abmas, ORU | Sanford Pentagon | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | Tournament held without fans |
| 2022 | South Dakota State | 75–69 | North Dakota State | Douglas Wilson, SDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2023 | Oral Roberts | 92–58 | North Dakota State | Max Abmas, ORU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | |
| 2024 | South Dakota State | 76–68 | Denver | William Kyle III, SDSU | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | First Final on CBSSN |
| 2025 | Omaha | 85–75 | St. Thomas | Marquel Sutton, UNO | Denny Sanford Premier Center | Sioux Falls, South Dakota | First Semifinals on CBSSN |
* 1 2 3 Known as Missouri State since 2005.
* 1 2 3 4 Now branded as UIC.
* ↑ Now Purdue Fort Wayne.

## Performance by school

| School | Championships | Championship Years |
| Valparaiso | 8 | 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004 |
| South Dakota State | 7 | 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2024 |
| North Dakota State | 5 | 2009, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020 |
| Oral Roberts | 5 | 2006, 2007, 2008, 2021, 2023 |
| Oakland | 3 | 2005, 2010, 2011 |
| Eastern Illinois | 2 | 1985, 1992 |
| Southwest Missouri State | 2 | 1987, 1989 |
| Wisconsin-Green Bay | 2 | 1991, 1994 |
| Cleveland State | 1 | 1986 |
| Northern Iowa | 1 | 1990 |
| IUPUI | 1 | 2003 |
| Omaha | 1 | 2025 |
| Southern Utah | 1 | 2001 |
| Western Illinois | 1 | 1984 |
| Wright State | 1 | 1993 |
| TOTAL | 41 |
* Teams in bold are currently in the Summit League. Oral Roberts left for the Southland Conference after the 2011–12 season, but returned for 2014–15.
* Among current Summit League members, Denver, North Dakota, St. Thomas and South Dakota have reached the tournament final but failed to win the championship, while Kansas City has yet to advance to the tournament final. Kansas City, which rejoined in 2020–21, had competed under its academic identity of UMKC during its previous Summit tenure (1994–95 to 2012–13).

## Television coverage

| Year | Network | Play-by-play | Analyst | Sideline |
| 2025 | CBSSN | Jordan Kent | Tim Doyle | Emily Proud |
| 2024 | CBSSN | John Sadak | Tim Doyle | Emily Proud |
| 2023 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Kevin Lehman |
| 2022 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Kevin Lehman |
| 2021 | ESPN2 | Kevin Fitzgerald | Dalen Cuff |
| 2020 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Bryce Drew | Elaina Lanson |
| 2019 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Sean Harrington |
| 2018 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Sean Harrington |
| 2017 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Sean Harrington |
| 2016 | ESPN2 | Bob Wischusen | Sean Harrington |
| 2015 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Sean Harrington |
| 2014 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Darrin Horn |
| 2013 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Bob Valvano |
| 2012 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Bob Valvano |
| 2011 | ESPN | Lou Cannellis | Mike Kelley |
| 2010 | ESPN2 | Lou Cannellis | Mike Kelley |
| 2009 | ESPN2 | Dave Barnett | Tim Welsh |
| 2008 | ESPN | Ron Franklin | Fran Fraschilla |
| 2007 | ESPN | Ron Franklin | Fran Fraschilla |