Horizon League Reveals 2021 #HLMBB Championship Bracket
#HLMBB Championship Bracket | #REACHtheHORIZON Championship Central
INDIANAPOLIS – Following the end of the regular season on Saturday, the Horizon League revealed the bracket for the 2021 Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship which culminates March 8-9 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Cleveland State and Wright State claimed a share of the regular-season title on Saturday as the Vikings earned the No. 1 seed, while the Raiders will be the No. 2 seed. Both WSU and CSU ended the season with 16-4 records during #HLMBB play. Wright State has earned at least a share of the regular season title in each of the last three season, while Cleveland State claimed its first since the 2010-11 campaign.
Due to the unbalanced nature of the Horizon League schedule because of COVID-19, this season the championship was seeded utilizing a formula that considered four factors: League winning percentage, strength of schedule, weighting road wins vs. home wins and number of League games played.
Oakland finished the season with a 10-10 mark in #HLMBB play including winning six road games to claim the No. 3 seed, while Northern Kentucky secured the No. 4 seed with a Horizon League record of 11-7 and come in the tournament having won eight of their last 10 games.
The top-four seeds earn a bye to the quarterfinals and a home game on Tuesday, March 2 with the winners advancing to the semifinals on March 8 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Detroit Mercy is the No. 5 seed for the Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship after claiming a win over RMU, 80-61, in the regular-season finale, its 10th victory in 12 games. Youngstown State comes in as the No. 6 seed with a 9-11 HL record and having won five of its last six #HLMBB contests. Green Bay and Milwaukee claimed seeds No. 7 and 8, respectively, to earn the final two first round home games.
Rounding out the seeds are IUPUI at No. 9 followed by Purdue Fort Wayne at No. 10, UIC at No. 11 and RMU at No. 12.
The 2021 Horizon League Basketball Championships will begin Feb. 25 and March 2 at campus sites and eight teams – four men and four women – will look to advance to Indianapolis and #REACHtheHORIZON on March 8-9 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Every game of the tournament will be carried on ESPN networks with the first round and quarterfinal games streamed on ESPN+. The first semifinal game in Indianapolis will be on ESPNU starting at 6:30 p.m. ET on March 8 followed by semifinal No. 2 on ESPN2 at 9:30 p.m. ET. The championship game will broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 9.
Thursday, Feb. 25 begins first-round action with four games as No. 5 Detroit Mercy will host No. 12 RMU, No. 6 Youngstown State welcomes No. 11 UIC, No. 7 seed Green Bay will face No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne and No. 9 IUPUI will travel to No. 8 seed Milwaukee.
For complete information on the 2021 Horizon League Basketball Championships, please go to HorizonLeague.com/Indy.
RESULTS
2021 HORIZON LEAGUE MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
| DATE |
GAME |
Time (ET) |
TV/Live Stream |
| Thursday, Feb. 25 |
No. 5 Detroit Mercy vs. No. 12 RMU |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
No. 6 Youngstown State vs. No. 11 UIC |
8 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
No. 7 Green Bay vs. No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne |
8 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
No. 8 Milwaukee vs. No. 9 IUPUI |
8 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
| Tuesday, March 2 |
No. 1 Cleveland State vs. Lowest-remaining seed |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
No. 2 Wright State vs. Second lowest-remaining seed |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
No. 3 Oakland vs. Second highest-remaining seed |
7:30 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
|
No. 4 Northern Kentucky vs. Highest-remaining seed |
7 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
| Monday, March 8 |
Semifinal No. 1 |
6:30 p.m. |
ESPNU |
|
Semifinal No. 2 |
9:30 p.m. |
ESPN2 |
| Tuesday, March 9 |
Championship Game |
7 p.m. |
ESPN or ESPN2 |