List of Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball champions

This is a list of regular season and tournament champions in men's basketball of the NCAA Division I Ohio Valley Conference.

Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament
Sport	College basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Number of teams	12
Format	Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium	Ford Center
Current location	Evansville, Indiana
Played	1949–1955; 1964–1967; 1975–present
Last contest	2024
Current champion	SIU Edwardsville
Most championships	Murray State Racers (18)
TV partner(s)	ESPN2, ESPNU
Official website	ovcsports.com/sports/mbball

Men's basketball conference champions

The Ohio Valley Conference basketball tournament was held in Louisville from 1949–55 and from 1964 to 1967. The tournaments held from 1948 to 1967 were done at the beginning of the season rather than after conference play. From 1956 to 1963 and from 1968 to 1974, no tournament was held. From 1975 to 1991, the tournament was held at the arena of the team that finished atop the conference standings. It has been held at a neutral site since 1992.^[1]

Season	Regular season champion	Tournament champion	Score	Tournament runner-up	Venue	City
1949	Western Kentucky (8–2)	Western Kentucky			Jefferson County Armory	Louisville, Kentucky
1950	Western Kentucky (8–0)	Eastern Kentucky
1951	Murray State (9–3)	Murray State
1952	Western Kentucky (9–1)	Western Kentucky
1953	Eastern Kentucky (9–1)	Western Kentucky
1954	Western Kentucky (9–1)	Western Kentucky
1955	Western Kentucky (8–2)	Eastern Kentucky
1956	Morehead State/Tennessee Tech/Western Kentucky (7–3)	None	None	None	None	None
1957	Morehead State/Western Kentucky (9–1)
1958	Tennessee Tech (8–2)
1959	Eastern Kentucky (10–2)
1960	Western Kentucky (10–2)
1961	Morehead State/Western Kentucky/Eastern Kentucky (9–3)
1962	Western Kentucky (11–1)
1963	Tennessee Tech/Morehead State (8–4)
1964	Murray State (11–3)	Murray State			Jefferson County Armory	Louisville, Kentucky
1965	Eastern Kentucky (13–1)	Western Kentucky
1966	Western Kentucky (14–0)	Western Kentucky
1967	Western Kentucky (13–1)	Tennessee Tech
1968	East Tennessee/Murray St (11–3)	None	None	None
1969	Murray State/Morehead State (11–3)
1970	Western Kentucky (14–0)
1971	Western Kentucky (12–2)
1972	Eastern Kentucky/Morehead State/Western Kentucky (9–5)
1973	Austin Peay (11–3)
1974	Austin Peay/Morehead State (10–4)
1975	Middle Tennessee (12–2)	Middle Tennessee	89–75	Austin Peay	Murphy Center	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1976	Western Kentucky (11–3)	Western Kentucky	65–60	Morehead State	E.A. Diddle Arena	Bowling Green, Kentucky
1977	Austin Peay (13–1)	Middle Tennessee	77–65	Austin Peay	Dunn Center	Clarksville, Tennessee
1978	Middle Tennessee/East Tennessee (10–4)	Western Kentucky	77–69	Austin Peay	E. A. Diddle Arena	Bowling Green, Kentucky
1979	Eastern Kentucky (9–3)	Eastern Kentucky	78–77	Western Kentucky	McBrayer Arena	Richmond, Kentucky
1980	Western Kentucky/Murray St (10–2)	Western Kentucky	54–51	Murray State	E. A. Diddle Arena	Bowling Green, Kentucky
1981	Western Kentucky (12–2)	Western Kentucky	71–67	Murray State
1982	Murray State/Western Kentucky (13–3)	Middle Tennessee	54–52	Western Kentucky
1983	Murray State (11–3)	Morehead State	81–65	Akron	Racer Arena	Murray, Kentucky
1984	Morehead State (12–2)	Morehead State	47–44	Youngstown State	Ellis Johnson Arena	Morehead, Kentucky
1985	Tennessee Tech (11–3)	Middle Tennessee	66–63	Youngstown State	Murphy Center	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1986	Akron/Middle Tennessee (10–4)	Akron	68–63	Middle Tennessee	James A. Rhodes Arena	Akron, Ohio
1987	Middle Tennessee (11–3)	Austin Peay	71–68	Eastern Kentucky	Murphy Center	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
1988	Murray State (13–1)	Murray State	73–70	Austin Peay	Racer Arena	Murray, Kentucky
1989	Middle Tennessee/Murray St (10–2)	Middle Tennessee	82–79	Austin Peay	First round at campus locations; rest at Nashville Municipal Auditorium	Nashville, Tennessee
1990	Murray State (10–2)	Murray State	73–67	Eastern Kentucky	Racer Arena	Murray, Kentucky
1991	Murray State (10–2)	Murray State	79–67	Middle Tennessee
1992	Murray State (11–3)	Murray State	81–60	Eastern Kentucky	Rupp Arena	Lexington, Kentucky
1993	Tennessee State (13–3)	Tennessee State	82–68	Murray State
1994	Murray State (15–1)	Tennessee State	73–72	Murray State	Nashville Municipal Auditorium	Nashville, Tennessee
1995	Murray State/Tennessee State (11–5)	Murray State	92–84	Austin Peay
1996	Murray State (12–4)	Austin Peay	70–68	Murray State
1997	Murray State/Austin Peay (12–6)	Murray State	88–85 (OT)	Austin Peay	Gaylord Entertainment Center
1998	Murray State (16–2)	Murray State	92–69	Tennessee State
1999	Murray State (16–2)	Murray State	62–61	Southeast Missouri State
2000	Southeast Missouri/Murray St (14–4)	Southeast Missouri	67–56	Murray State
2001	Tennessee Tech (13–3)	Eastern Illinois	84–83	Austin Peay
2002	Tennessee Tech (15–1)	Murray State	70–69	Tennessee Tech	Commonwealth Convention Center	Louisville, Kentucky
2003	Austin Peay/Morehead State (13–3)	Austin Peay	63–57	Tennessee Tech	Gaylord Entertainment Center	Nashville, Tennessee
2004	Austin Peay (16–0)	Murray State	66–60	Austin Peay	Nashville Municipal Auditorium
2005	Tennessee Tech (12–4)	Eastern Kentucky	52–46	Austin Peay	Gaylord Entertainment Center
2006	Murray State (17–3)	Murray State	74–57	Samford	First round games at campus sites; rest at Gaylord Entertainment Center
2007	Austin Peay (16–4)	Eastern Kentucky	63–62	Austin Peay
2008	Austin Peay (16–4)	Austin Peay	82–64	Tennessee State	First round games at campus sites; rest at Nashville Municipal Auditorium
2009	Tennessee Martin (14–4)	Morehead State	67–65 (2OT)	Austin Peay	First round games at campus sites; rest at Sommet Center
2010	Murray State (17–1)	Murray State	62–51	Morehead State
2011	Murray State (14–4)	Morehead State	80–73	Tennessee Tech	Nashville Municipal Auditorium
2012	Murray State (15–1)	Murray State	54–52	Tennessee State
2013	East: Belmont (14–2) West: Murray State (10–6)	Belmont	70–68 (OT)	Murray State
2014	East: Belmont (14–2) West: Murray State (13–3)	Eastern Kentucky	79–73	Belmont
2015	East: Belmont (11–5) West: Murray State (16–0)	Belmont	88–87	Murray State
2016	East: Belmont (12–4) West: Tennessee-Martin (10–6)	Austin Peay	83–73	Tennessee–Martin
2017	East: Belmont (15–1) West: Tennessee-Martin (10–6)	Jacksonville State	66–55	UT Martin
2018	Murray State (15–2)	Murray State	68–51	Belmont	Ford Center	Evansville, Indiana
2019	Belmont/Murray State (16–2)	Murray State	77–65	Belmont
2020	Belmont/Murray State (15–3)	Belmont	76–75	Murray State
2021	Belmont (18–2)	Morehead State	86–71	Belmont
2022	Murray State (18–0)	Murray State	71–67	Morehead State
2023	Morehead State (14–4)	Southeast Missouri	89–82 (OT)	Tennessee Tech
2024	Little Rock/Tennessee Martin/Morehead State (14–4)	Morehead State	69–55	Little Rock
2025	Southeast Missouri State (15–5)	SIU Edwardsville	69–48	Southeast Missouri State

Tournament championships by school

Schools highlighted in pink are former members of the Ohio Valley Conference. Tournament Championships are indicated in bold.

School	Number of Tournament Championships	Last Tournament Championship	Final Appearances (since 1975)
Murray State	18	2022	1980, 1981, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
Western Kentucky	10	1981	1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982
Eastern Kentucky	6	2014	1979, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2005, 2007, 2014
Morehead State	6	2024	1976, 1983, 1984, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2021, 2022, 2024
Middle Tennessee	5	1989	1975, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991
Austin Peay	5	2016	1975, 1977, 1978, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016
Belmont	3	2020	2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
Tennessee State	2	1994	1993, 1994, 1998, 2008, 2012
Southeast Missouri	2	2023	1999, 2000, 2023, 2025
Tennessee Tech	1	1967	2002, 2003, 2011, 2023
Akron	1	1986	1983, 1986
Eastern Illinois	1	2001	2001
Jacksonville State	1	2017	2017
SIU Edwardsville	1	2025	2025
UT Martin	0	–	2016, 2017
Little Rock	0	–	2024
Samford	0	–	2006
Youngstown State	0	–	1984, 1985

Currently, Lindenwood, Western Illinois, Southern Indiana have never appeared in an OVC Tournament Final or won the conference championship.

See also

• Ohio Valley Conference women's basketball tournament