Mississippi Valley State is hoping for a third straight trip to the finals of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament.
MVSU won the tournament last year and finished second the year before that.
If the Delta Devils are going to make another run, they’ll have to do so as one of the lower-seeded teams. They are the sixth seed in the eight-team tournament, which begins Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., at the Fair Park Arena.
Valley will open tourney play against No. 3 seed Prairie View at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. The winner will play at 2:30 p.m. Friday against the Jackson State-Texas Southern winner.
The championship game is set for 8 p.m. Saturday and will be televised live by ESPNU.
Valley comes in at 7-24 overall, 7-11 in the SWAC after losing its regular-season finale 73-63 to Arkansas-Pine Bluff at home last Thursday. The Panthers are 16-15, 12-6 in the SWAC after beating Southern 76-60 on Saturday.
Prairie View ended the regular season with three straight wins and with victories in five of their final six games.
The two teams split their regular season meetings, with each defending its home court (MVSU won 67-49 on Jan. 24 and Prairie View won 81-69 on Feb 21).
“We feel like the tournament is wide open,” said first-year Valley coach Sean Woods. “We believe we’re as good as any team in it. I believe there will be some so-called upsets.”
Alabama State (19-9, 16-2) is the top seed after claiming back-to-back regular-season SWAC titles. JSU (16-14, 15-3) is the second seed.
On the women’s side, Prairie View is again the team to beat.
The Lady Panthers (20-10, 17-1) earned their second straight 20-win season and the top seeding in the SWAC Tournament for the second consecutive year.
They have won 16 consecutive games heading into the postseason. Prairie View faces eighth seed Grambling State at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The MVSU Delta Devilettes (12-18, 9-9) are seeded sixth and will play third-seeded Alabama State (14-15, 11-7) at noon Thursday.
The teams split their two regular season meetings, with Valley winning 66-62 Jan. 12 and Alabama State winning 87-81 in triple overtime on Feb. 9.
The Devilettes have won five of their last seven since that triple overtime loss, including their final three to close the regular season.
