Men's College Basketball

MAC Basketball Tournament 2014: Western Michigan, Toledo lead the field

Western Michigan and Toledo come in as the two top seeds and will only need to win two games to claim the conference crown, but should they be considered the favorites?

by Kevin Zimmerman

Mar 10, 2014, 3:00 PM UTC

Dak Dillon-USA TODAY Sports

The opening round of the MAC Tournament begins Monday with the No. 5 through No. 12 seeds playing on the campuses of the higher seeds. The tournament then moves to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, where the four winners of the opening road are pared down to two on Wednesday.

No. 3 seed Buffalo and No. 4 seed Akron await the two remaining teams in the Thursday quarterfinals, and the winners of those matchups will face No. 1 Western Michigan and No. 2 Toledo in the semifinals.

The Western Michigan Broncos (21-9) enter as the top seed behind the play of the MAC scoring leader David Brown, a 19.1 point-per-game scorer, and senior center Shayne Whittington, who averages 16.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per outing. The Broncos have lost one game in their last 11, and was against the Toledo Rockets in overtime.

The No. 2 seeded Rockets (26-5) own the same 14-4 conference record as Western Michigan, but boast a better overall record and a decent NCAA resume -- they recorded a 10-point loss to the Kansas Jayhawks in the first half of the season and could be the only at-large MAC team to make the Big Dance should they fail to win the conference tournament.

While they may have to play an extra game in the quarterfinals, Buffalo could be the team to beat this week. According to Ken Pomeroy's efficiency metrics, the three-seeded Bulls are the best team in the MAC thanks to a solid offense that is fueled by an up-tempo attack. Buffalo comes in winning five of its last six games and is led by senior forward Javon McCrea, who averages nearly 19 points and 10 rebounds a night.

No. 4 seed Akron could also make some noise with its strong defensive play. The Zips struggle to score the ball at times, ranking 263rd in the country in points per game, but if they can get some shots to fall, this senior-led group could be a tough out.

Here is the full bracket for the tournament.