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.

2017 Horizon League men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2016–17
Teams	10
Site	Joe Louis Arena Detroit, Michigan
Champions	Northern Kentucky (1st title)
Winning coach	John Brannen (1st title)
MVP	Lavone Holland (Northern Kentucky)
Attendance	29,240
Television	ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN3
Horizon League men's basketball tournaments ← 2016 2018 →

2016–17 Horizon League men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Oakland	14	–	4		.778			25	–	9		.735
Valparaiso	14	–	4		.778			24	–	9		.727
Green Bay	12	–	6		.667			18	–	14		.563
Northern Kentucky †	12	–	6		.667			24	–	11		.686
Wright State	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
UIC	7	–	11		.389			17	–	19		.472
Detroit	6	–	12		.333			8	–	23		.258
Cleveland State	5	–	13		.278			9	–	22		.290
Youngstown State	5	–	13		.278			13	–	21		.382
Milwaukee	4	–	14		.222			11	–	24		.314
† 2017 Horizon League Tournament winner

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.^[1] 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[2]	Matchup	Score	Television[3][4]
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					Quarterfinals Saturday/Sunday, March 4/5					Semifinals Monday, March 6					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