Scheduling for the 2025-26 college basketball season is well under way.

Among those games are annual exempt multi-team events — regular-season tournaments — for which the NCAA has defined rules.

Here is a tracker for what tournaments the Missouri Valley Conference’s 11 teams have joined for the 2025-26 season, as of Saturday, May 31, 2025. It will be updated as new information becomes available.

Bradley

Bradley will play in the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational in the Orlando area Nov. 24-26 in the three-game Adventure Bracket. The field includes Bradley, Towson, Temple, Princeton, Rhode Island, Vermont, UC San Diego and Liberty.

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The Bradley Braves are 23-13 in such tournament play under coach Brian Wardle, and have won championships in the Cancun Challenge (2018), Don Haskins Sunbowl Invitational (2021), SoCal Challenge (2023) and Myrtle Beach Classic (2024).

Evansville is in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Nov. 21-24. The field includes Evansville, Akron, Charleston, Green Bay, Iona, Oregon State, U-Mass and Yale. Evansville opens with a game against Oregon State on Nov. 21.

Murray State

Murray State is in the Cayman Islands Classic on Nov. 23-25. The format is three games, and the field includes Murray State, George Washington, McNeese State, Middle Tennessee State and four more teams as yet unannounced.

Northern Iowa

Northern Iowa in the Acrisure Series in Palm Desert, Calif. on Nov. 25-28. The 21-team field shows Northern Iowa, Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon, Colorado, Iowa, Loyola Chicago, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Saint Louis, San Diego, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Stanford, Tulsa, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Fresno, Ole Miss, Utah and Washington. Tournament format is undetermined at this time.

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For subscribers: Opt outs and Bradley’s NIL collective in the NCAA portal era

Illinois State

Illinois State in the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational in the Orlando area on Nov. 27-28. The Redbirds are part of the Imagination Bracket, which will be a two-game format. The field includes Illinois State, Charlotte, Richmond and Furman.

Drake is in the Emerald Coast Classic at Destin, Fla. on Nov. 28-29. It’s a two-game format. The field includes Drake, DePaul, Georgia Tech and LSU.

MVC teams without a tournament

As of May 31, Belmont, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Illinois-Chicago and Valparaiso do not have a multi-team tournament scheduled.

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Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: MVC basketball: Tracking 2025 regular-season tournaments in Valley

John Wall was the first No. 1 NBA Draft pick in Kentucky Basketball history; fifteen years later, he says there’s a scenario in which he would have returned to Lexington for another season.

During an interview with Matt Jones on “Sunday Mornings with Matt & Myron” on ESPN Radio, Wall said that he had so much fun during his one year at Kentucky that he would have come back for another if his draft stock wasn’t so high.

“I’d say great, man,” Wall said of his time in Lexington. “A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Since the day I stepped foot on campus, it was amazing. I already knew what the fanbase was like, and I knew how much they love basketball and horses out there, but it was surreal.

“I really enjoyed every moment of it, had fun, and it’d be one of those things, if I hadn’t had an opportunity to go number one [in the NBA Draft], I would have loved to come back for another year because I wanted to win a championship, but what we did and brought back the culture of fun basketball with Cal and all that going on at Kentucky, it was just so amazing.”

What specific draft projection could have kept Wall in Lexington for a sophomore season?

“I think like [pick number] 10 or higher, I probably would have come back.”

Wall was one of five Kentucky players drafted in the first round that year — a record for any school — along with DeMarcus Cousins (No. 5), Patrick Patterson (No. 14), Eric Bledsoe (No. 18), and Daniel Orton (No. 29). There’s no telling if the others would have followed Wall’s lead and returned to Lexington for one more run but it’s a fun hypothetical on a Monday in June.

Wall glad he didn’t play college basketball during the NIL era

One thing that could have factored into those decisions: NIL. If players had been able to profit off their name, image, and likeness when Wall was in college, there’s no doubt he would have been one of the top NIL earners in program history and maybe even all of college basketball. He was the biggest rockstar on the team that brought the fun back to Kentucky Basketball. Interestingly, Wall said he was happy NIL wasn’t around during his time as a Wildcat.

“Me and my homeboys talk about it all the time and joke, like, I don’t know if it’s true, but I just saw that [Duke star] Cooper Flagg made like $28 million, they say. I was like, good lord. But I don’t really — for me, I’m glad I didn’t come up in that era, you know what I mean?”

Nope. You would have made millions on millions. Explain more, please.

“Just for me, I think it’s dope, I think it’s great, I think what they’re doing is fun. I think they gotta do like some boundaries with some of it, you know what I mean, so it’s not like everybody jumping in the [transfer] portal every year and trying to just search for money, but I’m glad the athletes are getting paid. But I’m glad I got an era where I just got to play basketball, enjoy, have fun, and then make my decision if I want to go to the league or not.”

When Matt reminded Wall of how many fans still wear his Kentucky jersey to games, he admitted it would have been nice to get a piece of the pie; however, he wouldn’t trade his experience at Kentucky for anything.

“That would be dope, and it’s always like a lot of respect and love that I have for Kentucky, how much love they got for me, for all the things I’ve done there, and getting an opportunity to play there. Even though it was only one year, I enjoyed that. But yeah, that would be crazy to see how much I would have gotten from NIL for sure.”

We might see Wall back in Lexington soon. During the interview, he revealed that Mark Pope invited him to work out with the team this summer, and he’s trying to fit it into his schedule. Even if he can’t make that work, he vowed to return to his old Kentucky home sooner rather than later.

“Kentucky’s always home for me,” Wall said. There’s always love. That’s the school I went to, the jersey I put on. They gave me the opportunity to reach one of my goals and dreams in life to play college basketball, and play on one of the biggest levels for one of the best schools in the country, and a good opportunity to go to the league. So yeah, I’m definitely coming back.”

Listen to Wall’s interview around the 30-minute mark of Hour 3 of “Matt & Myron” below.

Several Regionals wrapped up coming out of Sunday’s results in the 2025 NCAA Baseball Tournament with spots already taken in the Super Regionals. However, based on the other results nationwide, a few more are in an in-or-out scenarios in Game 7s for Monday.

Coming out of the weekend, six games will be winner-take-all matchups at respective regionals around the country. Now, those games have had their time slots and television designations announced by those airing or streaming it at ESPN.

NCAA Baseball Tournament Schedule for Game 7s on Monday

Oklahoma vs. No. 5 North Carolina – 3 p.m. EST/2 p.m. CT on ESPNU/ESPN+
Murray State vs. No. 10 Ole Miss – 6 p.m. EST/5 p.m. CT on ESPN+
Wake Forest vs. No. 14 Tennessee – 6 p.m EST/5 p.m. CT on ESPN2/ESPN+
USC vs. No. 8 Oregon State – 6 EST/5 p.m. CT on ESPNU/ESPN+
Little Rock vs. No. 6 LSU – 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CT on ESPN2/ESPN+
Miami vs. No. 16 Southern Miss – 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CT on ESPN+

Six spots remain available in the Super Regionals going into the week tomorrow. A dozen teams will be in contention for them depending on how these games turn out to close the first weekend of the NCAA Baseball Tournament.

Regional Recap from Sunday’s results

Oklahoma 9, North Carolina 5
The Sooners trailed 3-2 after the fifth inning but took control in the sixth. They scored five runs that inning, including a two-run shot from Drew Dickerson, to take a 7-3 advantage. UNC refused to go away and answered with two runs in the top of the seventh. OU led 8-5 in the eighth inning when the Tar Heels loaded the bases with no outs, but the Sooners defense tightened up and somehow got out without giving up a score. They would hang on to win from there and force a winner-take-all for the regional title on Monday.

Ole Miss 19, Murray State 8
After suffering a loss to the Racers on Friday, the Rebels bounced back Sunday with a dominant win in the regional final. They trailed 3-2 after the first two innings, but that didn’t last long thanks to an eight-run third inning. Ole Miss added another five in the fourth to take full control and coast to the victory. That sets up a rematch on Monday with the winner moving on to Super Regionals.

Wake Forest 7, Tennessee 6
Tennessee and Wake Forest went at it through six innings as they were tied all the way through the ninth at six. However, with no outs at the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, the Volunteers threw four balls at Jack Winnay for a walkoff walk to send the Knoxville Regional to a final game on Monday.

Little Rock 10, LSU 4
LSU simply couldn’t find enough offense after an early rally. The Tigers plated three runs in the first inning against Arkansas-Little Rock. They’d manage to scratch out only one more the rest of the way. And with Arkansas-Little Rock scoring two in the second inning, four in the third and four in the eighth that made for an uphill climb. The Tigers simply couldn’t get there, and now they’ll have to play a winner-take-all game on Monday.

Southern Miss 17, Miami 6
The Golden Eagles fought back with their backs against the wall and facing elimination for the dominant win to force a winner-take-all matchup on Monday. They scored nine runs in the opening inning and never trailed on their way to the victory. Miami never managed to get closer than within five runs after that as Southern Miss cruised behind two home runs and five RBI from Joey Urban.

Oregon State 14, USC 1

Oregon State prevailed in a baseball version of the old “Pac-12 after dark” against former conference rival USC. The Beavers bats were hot from the start as they finished with 17 hits in the lopsided win. OSU went up 6-1 after the first three innings and added another five runs in the sixth and seventh combined to pull even further ahead. Wyatt Queen got the start at pitcher and, despite giving up eight hits, allowed just one run in 4.1 innings of work. Kellen Oakes and Zach Kmatz closed things out for Oregon State, which will play USC again in a rematch Monday to advance to Supers.

IRVING, Texas – The National Football Foundation (NFF) and College Hall of Fame announced today the names on the 2026 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, including former Fighting Illini Kevin Hardy and Simeon Rice. This year’s ballot features 79 players and nine coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision and 100 players and 35 coaches from the divisional ranks.

Eighteen former Illini are currently enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, with linebacker Dana Howard (2018) and defensive tackle Moe Gardner (2022) as the most recent inductees. Howard and Gardner joined 16 previously selected Fighting Illini in the hall of fame, including college football legends Red Grange (inducted 1951) and Dick Butkus (inducted 1983).

2026 Illinois College Football Hall of Fame Candidates

LB Kevin Hardy, Illinois: 1995 Butkus Award winner and consensus First Team All-American with 105 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and three interceptions … Two-time First Team All-Big Ten selection who helped Illini to two bowl berths … Team captain started 45 games (second all-time among Illini LBs) and ranks fifth all-time at Illinois in sacks (18) and eighth TFL (38) … Chosen by Jacksonville as the No. 2 pick in the 1996 NFL draft.

LB Simeon Rice, Illinois: Two-time First Team All-American and three-time First Team All-Big Ten selection … Holds conference and school record for career sacks (44.5) and Illini record for career tackles for loss (69) … Set school record for single-season sacks (16) … Chosen by Arizona as the No. 3 pick in the 1996 NFL draft.

Illini in the College Football Hall of Fame (18)

Alex Agase, G (inducted 1963)

Bob Blackman, coach (inducted 1987)

Al Brosky, DB (inducted 1998)

Dick Butkus, LB (inducted 1983)

Chuck Carney, WR (inducted 1966)

J.C. Caroline, RB (inducted 1980)

Pete Elliot, coach (inducted 1993)

Moe Gardner, DT (inducted 2022)

Jim Grabowski, RB (inducted 1995)

Harold “Red” Grange, RB (inducted 1951)

Edward K. Hall, coach (inducted 1951)

Dana Howard, LB (inducted 2018)

Bart Macomber, RB (inducted 1972)

Bernie Shively, G (inducted 1982)

David Williams, WR (inducted 2005)

George W. Woodruff, coach (inducted 1963)

Claude “Buddy” Young, RB (inducted 1968)

Robert Zuppke, coach (inducted 1951)