The Ohio Valley Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments return to the Municipal Auditorium, the new home of the Championship, with a new merit-based format in 2011.

The combined men's and women's championship has been held at Municipal Auditorium five previous times: 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004 and 2008. The men also held its championship at the venue in 1989.

Starting with the 2011 Championships, all eight men's and all eight women's teams that qualify for the tournament field will gather at a single site for the entire tournament. Previously first round games were played on campus sites with the semifinals and finals being held in Nashville.

The bracket also shifts from a traditional 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc. format to a merit-based format that rewards the top teams during the regular season with byes into the quarterfinals and semifinals. Starting in 2011, the first round of each the men's and women's tournament will feature the No. 5 seed against the No. 8 seed and the No. 6 seed against the No. 7 seed. The winners of those games will advance to the quarterfinals to face the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds (who received a bye). The winners of those quarterfinal matchups will advance to the semifinals to face the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds (who received a pair of byes).

The move to Municipal Auditorium keeps the championships in Nashville, a place where they have been held 16 times in the last 17 years. The only year the tournaments have not been held in Nashville during that stretch was 2002.

The 2011 Championship marks the 48th time the men's event has been held, making it the fourth oldest Division I championship in the country (behind only the Southern, ACC and SEC).

Future OVC Basketball Tournament dates include Feb. 29-March 3, 2012, March 6-9, 2013 and March 5-8, 2014.