MAC Tournament: preview, bracket, notes.

Similar to each of the past three years, the Toledo Rockets go into Cleveland as regular season champions, and the top seed in the MAC Tournament.

The top of the conference is very even, as the top three teams – Toledo, Kent State, and Akron – finished the season within three games of each other. This could be a battle of who’s specialty is better, as Toledo comes in with a top 10 offense, but a bottom 100 defense, whereas Kent State has a top 40 defense with an offense outside the top 100.

Bracket

Schedule

Quarterfinals: Thursday, March 9

Game 1: 11:00 AM ET (ESPN+)

NO. 1 TOLEDO vs. NO. 8 MIAMI

Game 2: 30 min following Game 1 (ESPN+)

NO. 4 BALL STATE vs. NO. 5 OHIO

Game 3: 30 min following Game 2 (ESPN+)

NO. 2 KENT STATE- NO. 7 NORTHERN ILLINOIS

Game 4: 30 min following Game 3 (ESPN+)

NO. 3 AKRON vs. NO. 6 BUFFALO

Semifinals: Friday, March 10

Game 5: 5:00 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)

GAME 1 WINNER vs. GAME 2 WINNER

Game 6: 7:30 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)

GAME 3 WINNER vs. GAME 4 WINNER

Saturday, March 11

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: 7:30 PM ET (ESPN2)

GAME 5 WINNER vs. GAME 6 WINNER

The Favorites

Toledo (25-6, 15-3): The Rockets are hungry to get back to the tournament, and finally break through from their struggles in Cleveland. They’ve been a favorite in the conference all year, and delivered, winning their third straight MAC regular season championship, the fourth in 11 seasons under head coach Tod Kowalczyk. Toledo has a KenPom top-10 offense in all of college basketball, led by unanimous MAC player of the year RayJ Dennis.

Toledo’s track record in Cleveland isn’t the best, but this could be their year to change that.

Kent State (25-6, 15-3): Kent State is the other clear favorite going into Cleveland. The Golden Flashes have dominated the MAC, with a win over all but one team in the conference, that one team being their first round matchup in Northern Illinois.

The Flashes are looking to avenge last season’s MAC Championship loss, and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. Kent State is battle tested, playing tight ballgames against Houston, Charleston, and Gonzaga early in the season.

They’ll need to keep their KenPom top 40 defense in the forefront of their championship bid, allowing just 65.4 points per game.

Kent State was in the catbird’s seat for the majority of the season, they’ll look to finish it out with an NCAA Tournament berth.

The Darkhorse

Akron (21-10, 13-5): The Zips have been here before. They’re the defending champions of this tournament, and have a win on the season against everyone but Toledo.

They don’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone. If the Zips can come in with the mentality that they’re the hunted, they should have a shot to make a run for their second consecutive championship.

Longshots

Ball State (20-11, 11-7): The Cardinals haven’t won a game in Cleveland since 2017. They started the year off strong, but have dropped four of their last five games.

Ohio (18-13, 10-8): With only eight teams in the tournament, there’s not a ton of options to look at. The Bobcats will come into the tournament against a Ball State team they’ve already beaten, but they’d need to get through top seeded Toledo on day two to have a shot at their second NCAA Tournament in three years.

Prediction

Even with Toledo being the top seed, this is Kent State’s conference to lose. The Golden Flashes have played really good teams close this season, and will want to show off on a national scale in the NCAA Tournament. The road won’t be easy, with likely rematches against rival Akron and top-seeded Toledo, but look for Kent State to make noise in Cleveland.