It’s probably safe to say that the men’s basketball season has been frustrating, with a couple of promising upsets clouded by sound defeats to bad teams and squandered leads against good teams.

But we can give you three good reasons to cheer on the Flashes as they begin the MAC Tournament tonight at 6:30 p.m. First, the conference tournament renders the regular season essentially meaningless, as all six remaining teams have a very real chance of claiming the title and earning a March Madness berth: just keep winning until all the other teams have lost.

Second, the top-seeded and once seemingly unstoppable Akron Zips, recent holders of a 19-game win streak, are suddenly very vulnerable after star point guard Alex Abreu was arrested and suspended indefinitely due to drug charges.

Third, the Flashes seem to be playing their best basketball of the season, as the current five-game win streak is their longest yet. Coach Rob Senderoff finally nabbed his first defeat of the Zips last Friday after four unsuccessful attempts.

Kent State has built a consistently good basketball program, accruing 20 or more wins in 13 of the past 14 seasons. Reaching that mark this year seemed unattainable after a four-game losing streak put the Flashes’ record at 11-10, but 10 games later they are now 19-12. The players are hungry for their 20th win because it could lead to a 21st and 22nd, which would put Kent State back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008.

A win tonight would also give the Flashes another Friday date with Akron, the winner of which advances to Saturday night’s championship game. The Zips have been in the championship game six consecutive years. We’re quite sick of that — and that, ultimately, is the most important reason to head up to Cleveland this week to support the Flashes.

The above editorial is the consensus of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board