The brackets are set for the annual men’s basketball Mid-American Conference Tournament.

The tournament begins tonight at campus sites. Buffalo (18-12, 8-10 MAC), a No. 8 seed, hosts No. 9 seeded Ball State (10-17, 6-12 MAC); No. 7 seed Toledo (17-10, 10-8 MAC) will host No. 10 seed Bowling Green (9-20, 5-13 MAC); No. 11 seed Eastern Michigan (7-20, 3-15 MAC) plays at No. 6 seed Western Michigan (13-16, 10-8 MAC); No. 5 seed Ohio (17-10, 10-8 MAC) hosts No. 12 seed Central Michigan (4-23, 1-17 MAC).

The No. 1 seeded Flashes (22-8, 15-3 MAC), No. 2 seed Northern Illinois (17-10, 12-6 MAC), No. 3 seed Akron (21-8, 14-4 MAC) and No. 4 seed Miami (14-4, 18-9 MAC) all clinched first-round byes.

After the first round, play begins at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

They will all play when the second round begins Thursday at noon. Northern Illinois starts the action at noon against the winner of the Bowling Green-Toledo matchup. At 2 p.m., Akron will play the winner of the game between Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan. Kent State will play either Buffalo or Ball State at 7 p.m. Miami will play Ohio or Central Michigan at 9 p.m.

The semifinals will take place Friday at 7 and 9 p.m.

The winner of the MAC Tournament will be determined on Saturday at 7 p.m. and will gain an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Tickets for the MAC Tournament are available at the Kent State Athletic Ticket Office in the M.A.C. Center.

– Kali Price