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2020 Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics

Dates

Monday, March 9rd (first round); Thursday, March 12th (quarterfinals); Friday, March 13th (semifinals); Saturday, March 14th (championship)

Format

Traditional bracket

Site(s)

Higher seeds host the first round. Those four winners join the top four seeds for the quarterfinals at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse later in the week. Note that the MAC has a restricted-attendance policy in place due to COVID-19, so don’t expect to show up at the arena and be able to buy tickets.

TV/Streaming Info

ESPN2 airs the final. Both semifinals will appear on CBSSN this year, while ESPN+ streams the first two rounds.

Participants

All 12 teams will participate.

Downloadable Bracket

Schedule

First Round (Mon., March 9)

ESPN+ ($) will stream all four games.

Game 1: No. 9 Central Michigan Chippewas (14-18, 7-11) 65, No. 8 Ohio 85
The Bobcats won the pair’s lone regular season meeting at home.

Game 2: No. 12 Miami (Ohio) 85, No. 5 Buffalo Bulls (20-12, 11-7)
The Bulls swept the season series.

Game 3: No. 10 Western Michigan Broncos (13-19, 6-12) 73, No. 7 Toledo 75
The Rockets swept the season series.

Game 4: No. 11 Eastern Michigan Eagles (16-16, 6-12) 76, No. 6 Kent State 86
The Eagles won the pair’s lone regular season meeting at home.

Quarterfinals (Thu., March 12)

ESPN+ ($) will stream all four games.

Game 5: No. 8 Ohio Bobcats (17-15, 8-10) vs. No. 1 Akron Zips (24-7, 14-4), 12 p.m.
The Zips swept the season series.

Game 6: No. 12 Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (13-19, 5-13) vs. No. 4 Northern Illinois Huskies (18-13, 11-7), approx. 2:30 p.m.
The season series was a home split.

Game 7: No. 7 Toledo Rockets (17-15, 8-10) vs. No. 2 Bowling Green Falcons (21-10, 12-6), 6:30 p.m.
The Falcons swept the season series.

Game 8: No. 6 Kent State Golden Flashes (20-12, 9-9) vs. No. 3 Ball State Cardinals (18-13, 11-7), approx. 9 p.m.
The Cardinals won the pair’s lone regular season meeting on the road.

Semifinals (Fri., March 13)

CBSSN will air both games.

Game 9: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 7 p.m.
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, approx. 9:30 p.m.

Championship (Sat., March 14)

Game 11: Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

10-Year Mayhem Potential

Data from Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter.

Over the past 10 seasons, one of the MAC’s top two seeds has won the automatic bid just five times. Buffalo won the tournament as the top seed in both of the last two seasons, with the 2018 title breaking a four-year drought.

• 1 seed (4): 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019
• 3 seed (2): 2012, 2016
• 6 seed (2): 2011, 2017
• 2 seed (1): 2015
• 9 seed (1): 2010

10-Year NCAA Seeding Record

Years with an NCAA win are in bold.

• 14 seed (4): 2010, 2014, 2016, 2017
• 12 seed (2): 2013, 2015
• 13 seed (2); 2012, 2018
• 6 seed (1): 2019
• 15 seed (1): 2011

The MAC champion has had more success as a 13 or 14 seed than most conference reps, even reaching a Sweet 16 in 2012 (Ohio). Naturally, with such a spread in conference tournament winners, the league’s NCAA season has also been all over the place during the last 10 years.

If Akron wins the title, it should earn a 13 seed, but any other champ is likely to wind up on seed line 14 or 15.

Last NCAA Tournament Appearances

Buffalo: 2019 (6 seed, 2nd Round)
Kent State: 2017 (14 seed, 1st Round)
Western Michigan: 2014 (14 seed, Round of 64)
Akron: 2013 (12 seed, Round of 64)
Ohio: 2012 (13 seed, Sweet 16)
Miami: 2007 (14 seed, 1st Round)
Central Michigan: 2003 (11 seed, 2nd Round)
Ball State: 2000 (11 seed, 1st Round)
Eastern Michigan: 1998 (13 seed, 1st Round)
Northern Illinois: 1996 (14 seed, 1st Round, MCC (Horizon) member)
Toledo: 1980 (9 seed, 1st Round)
Bowling Green: 1968 (unseeded, 1st Round)

While every MAC member has participated in March Madness at least once, NIU has yet to do so as a conference member, while Toledo’s last appearance came in a 48-team field and Bowling Green took part in the unseeded era.

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