Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Odds: Favorites To Win The Regular-Season Championship

There was plenty of turnover within the Missouri Valley Conference during the offseason. Five teams have different head coaches from a year ago and most of the conference’s top players from last year are gone. If there’s a league where an underdog can prevail and make some noise in 2025, the Valley might be it.

College basketball betting odds suggest there are only three teams who really have a shot at winning the regular-season conference title. Bradley, Drake, and Northern Iowa are the three programs with the shortest odds and each have had perennial success. Drake is the only one with a new head coach as Ben McCollum took over for Darian DeVries, who is now leading West Virginia. 

With a lot of parity in this conference so far — 10 teams are 2-2 or better in conference play after the first week of January — riding with a long shot to win the league could be worthwhile. You never know which teams can get hot in conference play.

Odds as of Jan. 8

Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Odds (Regular-Season Champion)

Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Predictions

It’s no surprise that Bradley was the preseason favorite to win the conference and remains the favorite. 

The Braves are undoubtedly the most talented team in the league and returned the most production from last year. Coach Brian Wardle has led them to back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a regular-season title in 2023. Led by senior guard Duke Deen (15.1 points per game), the Braves boast a very effective offense and average 81.6 PPG, which ranks second in the league. Zek Montgomery, Darius Hannah, and Christian Davis all average double-figures and shoot above 40% from the arc. It hasn’t been much of a step back for an offense that was even more efficient last season.

While Bradley is the clear favorite to win the MVC, it may be somewhat surprising to see Drake with the second-shortest odds at this point in the season after starting league play 0-2 and with a new head coach and nearly a new-look roster.

It shouldn’t be too surprising, however, with a veteran coach like McCollum taking the job and bringing Bennett Stirtz with him from Northwest Missouri State. Stirtz is leading the league in scoring (18.3 PPG) and has a solid supporting cast. The Bulldogs have been leaning on their defense so far this season (58.3 PPG allowed) and have only allowed one team to score more than 70 points. Their defensive identity will pay dividends down the stretch.

As with Drake, you can’t count out Northern Iowa, although the Panthers’ recent loss to Valparaiso is a game they should have won. Those are games you probably can’t lose if you want to win a conference title. Still, Ben Jacobson’s squad is always good and it should finish with double-digit conference wins for the third time in four years. 

The Murray State Racers have been somewhat of a disappointment this season and are all the way down to +1600 to win the league after entering the season as the second-favorite at +400. They did pick up a big win over Drake, however, that has the potential to kick them into gear.

I think that Murray State can flip things around and could be a great bet at +2500. There’s a real chance those are the longest odds the Racers will have all season. Murray State has struggled to shoot the ball, so that regression will have to correct itself at some point. They have been steady on defense all season and four of their seven losses have come by six points or less. I think they start winning those close games.

Illinois State (+4000) also provides some sneaky value and has all the essentials to be disruptive in league play. 

It’s also hard to argue against betting on Bradley to win the league right now, though. The Braves’ odds are likely to get shorter, so this might be the best price that will be offered for the rest of the season.