Bruins

Belmont Bruins

General Information

NCAA Division: Division I
Conference: Missouri Valley (2022-present)
Past Conferences: Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley
City: Nashville
Arena: Curb Event Center
NCAA Tournaments: 8 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2019)

Championships:

National Championships: None
Conference Tournament Titles: 8 (2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2020)
Conference Regular Season Titles: 12 (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)

Team History

The Belmont Bruins are a Division I program based in Nashville. Belmont joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022 following a 10-year stint in the Ohio Valley Conference. With few exceptions, Belmont has been a postseason mainstay since jumping to Division I in 1999. The Bruins have won at least 20 games and qualified for postseason play 15 of the last 17 years. That includes 2020 when they received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament but never got to participate because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, the school’s 20 conference championships since 2006 are third-most in the country besides Gonzaga and Kansas, and its 77 victories over the last three seasons rank fifth nationally (Gonzaga, Kansas, Houston, and Baylor.)

2019 Lone NCAA Tournament Win

To date, Belmont’s lone NCAA Tournament win came in 2019 in the First Four, whereas an 11-seed beat Temple 81-70. The Bruins went on to lose to Maryland in the first round, dropping their all-time NCAA Tournament record to 1-8. Meanwhile, they are 3-4 in the NIT, having last appeared in 2022. Belmont has also appeared in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament once, making the quarterfinals in 2009. Before joining Division I, the Bruins were a longtime NAIA power.

In addition to Belmont, the MVC added Murray State and Illinois-Chicago ahead of the 2022-23 season. That trio helped the MVC ease the sting of losing one of its marquee programs, Loyola Chicago, to the Atlantic 10.
Belmont, much like Murray State, became a powerhouse in the OVC. The Bruins won an OVC-record 30 consecutive conference games between 2020 and 2021 and finished second or better in all 10 seasons as a league member.

Can Belmont sustain that success in the MVC? The odds — at least initially — weren’t in the Bruins’ favor, Needing to replace seven of their eight top scorers, including Grayson Murphy (the program’s all-time assists leader,) the Bruins were ranked sixth in the league’s 2022-23 preseason poll.