Once again, it is March, which means it is time for conference tournaments, and tickets to March Madness will be punched.
In each conference, the conference tournament champion receives an automatic bid to March Madness.
With the MAC not being a very strong conference, the only way for a MAC team to make March Madness is to win the conference tournament.
These are the four quarterfinals that will begin on March 14 at 11 a.m.
No. 1 Toledo (20-11, 14-4) vs. No. 8 Kent State (15-16, 8-10)
In a rematch of last year’s MAC Championship game, the Rockets and Flashes will again face off, this time in the opening game of the tournament.
Toledo has won its fourth straight regular-season MAC championship but has not won the MAC tournament since 1980, the year of the inaugural MAC tournament.
The Rockets played the Flashes twice this season, winning 89-75 on Jan. 9 and 86-71 on March 8 in their final regular season game. Those two wins are part of a 9-3 record against MAC tournament teams.
Kent State has suffered a major dropoff this season. After winning the MAC tournament last season as the No. 2 seed, the Flashes are the last team in the tournament and will have to pull an upset just to get to the second round.
The Flashes have consistently failed to play a solid 40 minutes of basketball, showing their inability to play good offense and defense at the time. They also like to put themselves into a double-digit deficit in the first half, which they are rarely able to overcome.
If Kent can play 40 minutes of quality basketball, maybe, just maybe they can add a win to their 3-8 record against MAC tournament teams.
No. 4 Central Michigan (18-13, 12-6) vs. No. 5 Bowling Green (19-12, 10-8)
The second quarterfinal could possibly be the most interesting as the Chippewas, who did not even qualify for the tournament last year, will take on the Falcons, who also did not qualify last season.
Central Michigan won a dozen conference games this year, more than double the number they had a season ago. The Chippewas only have one senior and four juniors, so they are a fairly inexperienced group, which may become an issue in the tournament.
Central Michigan finished just two games behind first place and had a record of 7-4 against tournament teams, along with two overtime wins against the Falcons, one of which was in double overtime.
Bowling Green, looking to avenge those two losses to the Chippewas, has the more experienced team, with six seniors and two juniors on the roster.
Similar to Central Michigan, the Falcons doubled their conference win total of five from last year, recording ten this year. However, they do have just a 5-7 record against tournament teams.
The winner of game two of the MAC tournament will most likely have the task of playing Toledo in the semifinals. As difficult as that may be, both teams did pick up a win against the Rockets this season, so beating the regular season champs may not be as daunting as it seems.
No. 2 Akron (21-10, 13-5) vs. No. 7 Miami (15-16, 9-9)
The late afternoon game is one that may not have the looks of an especially competitive game based on the teams’ records, but after taking a deeper look, it has the potential to be a thriller.
After last season ended in the MAC semifinals, four seniors for the Zips decided to come back to use their fifth and final year of eligibility. They also have a couple of fourth-year seniors.
They are after more than just a MAC championship and an appearance in March Madness.
This team wants to win a March Madness game and knows what it takes after coming within four points of doing so two years ago.
The issue for the Zips is they have stumbled into the MAC tournament on the heels of two straight losses to teams with a 15-21 conference record.
Those two losses knocked Akron out of the top seed and into the second seed of the tournament to face Miami, who has notched a win against the Zips this season.
The Zips have appeared dominant at times, but their 7-4 record against tournament teams doesn’t necessarily scream dominance.
Even though they may be catching Akron at the right time, Miami will still have to play one of their best games all year if they want to advance.
The RedHawks 9-9 conference record is well short of impressive, and they only have three seniors and two juniors, which combines for less than the amount of total seniors Akron has. Akron is by far the more experienced team.
The Zips seniors know that this is their final run and will have spent the week leading up to the tournament doing everything they can to correct their mistakes.
Although they beat Akron in their only meeting this season, Miami still has a 4-8 record against tournament teams.
No. 3 Ohio (19-12, 13-5) vs. No. 6 Western Michigan (12-19, 9-9)
Ohio will enter the final quarterfinal as the favorite, having won their last six games and facing a middle-of-the-road Western Michigan team. The Bobcats have only themselves to blame if they are unable to get the job done, coming in as the more talented and more experienced team.
However, they should not take the Broncos lightly. They have shown they can beat top teams, defeating Akron 90-84 on March 8.
Ohio has consistently participated in the MAC tournament but has not made it to the championship game since 2021 when they won the championship and went on to beat Virginia in the first round of March Madness. They have a record of 7-5 against tournament teams since late January; that record is 6-1.
Western Michigan has had a nice turnaround this season after finishing 4-14 in MAC play last season, resulting in finishing last in the conference.
They have had some impressive wins this season, none bigger than the win against Akron on senior night, which moved them up to the seventh seed and spared them from playing Toledo in the first round.
They also won against Ohio on Jan. 13, which is part of their sub-par 4-7 record against tournament teams.
The Broncos can win, but they will have to play like they did on senior night when they took down the Zips.
Demetri Manousos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].
