The regular season has concluded, and it is once again time for the top eight teams in the MAC to meet in Cleveland to play for a spot in March Madness. This tournament is good for competitive games and intriguing trends, such as the top seed failing to win the tournament since 2019. The first game of the tournament will be on March 13 at 11 a.m., with approximately half an hour between games.
No. 1 Akron Zips (25-6, 17-1) vs No. 8 Bowling Green State Falcons (14-17, 8-10) – 11 a.m.
If the Zips want to defend their title, they can not take this game lightly. Coach John Groce will most likely remind his team of last year’s game one upset when eighth-seeded Kent State took down the MAC’s best Toledo Rockets.
Akron opened conference play at Bowling Green way back on Jan. 3, winning 71-68 in a game where it trailed for nearly 37 minutes. Though the game was close, Akron had not yet hit its stride.
The Zips appeared to be at their best through most of January and early February, but after their Feb. 8 win over South Alabama, they began to look mortal.
Through its first 11 games of conference play and its matchup with South Alabama, Akron went 11-0 and won each game by an average of 15.09 points. Since then, the team has gone 7-1, with an average margin of 5.75 along with close calls to some of the MAC’s worst.
Despite the lack of recent dominance, Akron is the better team. They are a fairly short team, but have extremely effective shooting to make up for it.
For the Falcons, they should feel as if they have a reasonable shot to pull the upset. They have won seven of their last ten, including four of their last five. Their three losses in that stretch have all been to other tournament-qualifying teams.
It was over two months ago and a lot has changed since, but they did have Akron on the ropes, so it stands to reason that they could put themselves in the same position in the quarterfinals.
No. 2 Miami RedHawks (23-8, 14-4) vs No. 7 Eastern Michigan Eagles (16-15, 9-9) – Approx. 1:30 p.m.
Though Bowling Green does have a shot, this is the first true upset alert of the tournament. The RedHawks started 10-1 in conference, only losing at Akron, but finished 4-3, with only one of those wins being over a tournament team.
Fortunately for them, the hot start was enough to build a large enough gap between them and the rest of the conference.
Miami’s best conference wins came against Kent State, defeating them twice, with the second being in overtime at home during that 4-3 skid.
Eastern Michigan has earned a spot in the MAC tournament for the first time since 2020, though the tournament was never played. The Eagles are one of the hottest teams entering the tournament, and could do some damage if they stay hot. They are 5-2 in their last seven, with wins over Toledo, Miami, and Ohio to go with a home loss to Bowling Green and a road loss at Kent State in which they held a 14-point lead.
If the Eagles can jump out on top and force Miami to play from behind, Miami will most likely begin to put up three-pointers, which has been an effective method of scoring for them. However, if Eastern Michigan can contain the barrage, they will give themselves a great chance to advance to the semifinals.
No. 4 Toledo Rockets (17-14, 10-8) No. 5 Ohio Bobcats (16-15, 10-8) – Approx. 4 p.m.
In a rematch of each teams’ final regular season game, two of the more intriguing teams in this tournament will meet again. The Rockets have entered the MAC tournament as the one seed each of the last four seasons, but failed to win a championship in any of them. This year, they started the conference seasons 8-2 before absolutely collapsing in the following weeks.
They finished their final eight games with a 2-6 record, but at halftime against Akron Tuesday, something clicked.
Akron led 45-24 at halftime and pushed the lead to 48-24, but Toledo showed heart and fought nearly all the way back, cutting the lead to three with two minutes left. The Rockets ultimately lost, but that second-half team that scored 63 points is what the fans are used to and that is a team that can make a run.
Three days later, Toledo played Ohio on senior night and won 96-82, which means they have averaged 53 points per half since halftime of the game against the Zips.
The Bobcats started the conference season 4-0 before hitting a 1-4 rough patch. They then closed the conference season 5-4 but lost three of their last four. Despite the inconsistencies down the stretch, this is a team that has taken down both Akron and Miami in the last five games.
Ohio is a relatively high-scoring team, pouring in 79.6 points per game, good enough for third in the conference.
This game should be entertaining, and should Akron win its game, it’s going to be a tough draw for the Zips in the semifinals no matter who wins this game..
No. 3 Kent State Golden Flashes (21-10, 11-7) vs No. 6 Western Michigan Broncos (12-19, 9-9) – Approx. 6:30 p.m.
Kent State, if they can avoid excess mistakes, fully has the ability to win this tournament. The Flashes rely on their defense, allowing 68.3 points per game, making them the only team in the MAC to allow under 70 points per game.
After the 85-71 home loss to Akron Jan. 31, the Flashes sat at 4-5 in conference. Since then, they are 8-2, though one of those wins was against Arkansas State of the Sun Belt. Despite that game not being against a MAC opponent, Arkansas State was on top of its conference at the time, and finished in a four-way tie.
Kent State’s only two losses in its last ten games came at Akron, where they showed immense improvement, losing by five, and at Miami in a back and forth game that went to overtime.
Sandwiched in between those losses was a 40-point win over Toledo.
The final week of the regular season was not especially impressive, winning by just one point at Western Michigan, and needing a second-half comeback to erase a 14-point deficit on the way to a senior night victory over Eastern Michigan.
Despite needing to come back in that game, Kent State has improved to the point where they have the ability to come back from down 14 whereas they probably would not have had the ability to do so earlier in the season.
On the other side, just because they have a 12-19 overall record, the Broncos are not to be taken lightly. This was a team that was sitting near the bottom of the conference before winning five of its last seven games, including wins over Miami and Ohio.
Western Michigan sits in the bottom half of the MAC in both points per game scored and points allowed per game, but what has allowed the team to find this late-season momentum is its height.
The Broncos average 37.9 rebounds, only behind Akron, and 13.3 offensive rebounds, which is first in the conference. They also take care of the ball, committing only 11 turnovers per game, putting them third in the conference.
This is a team that is more than capable of beating Kent State and giving either Miami or Eastern Michigan some trouble in the semifinals.