1997 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament

1997 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	8
Site	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
Champions	Valparaiso (3rd title)
Winning coach	Homer Drew (3rd title)
MVP	Janthony Joseph (Western Illinois)
Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournaments

1996–97 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Valparaiso †	13	–	5		.722			24	–	7		.774
Buffalo	11	–	5		.688			17	–	11		.607
Western Illinois	11	–	5		.688			19	–	10		.655
Troy State	10	–	6		.625			16	–	11		.593
Northeastern Illinois	8	–	8		.500			16	–	12		.571
Missouri-Kansas City	7	–	9		.438			10	–	17		.370
Chicago State	4	–	12		.250			4	–	23		.148
Central Connecticut State	4	–	12		.250			8	–	19		.296
Youngstown State	4	–	12		.250			9	–	18		.333
† 1997 Mid-Con Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1997 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 2–4, 1997, at The MARK of the Quad Cities in Moline, Illinois. This was the 14th edition of the tournament for the Association of Mid-Continent Universities/Mid-Continent Conference, now known as the Summit League.

Top-seeded Valparaiso defeated #3 seed Western Illinois 63–59 to earn an automatic berth into the 1997 NCAA tournament.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 2					Semifinals March 3					Finals March 4
	1	Valparaiso	97
	8	Central Connecticut	73
						1	Valparaiso	88*
						4	Northeastern Illinois	82
	4	Northeastern Illinois	75
	5	UMKC	48
											1	Valparaiso	63
											3	Western Illinois	59
	3	Western Illinois	66
	6	Youngstown State	64
						3	Western Illinois	80
						2	Buffalo	77
	2	Buffalo	81
	7	Chicago State	58