The MAC has earned a reputation in football as one of the wackiest, most unpredictable conferences in the nation. That reputation has carried over to the basketball court, in which the top four positions were undecided until the final day of regular season action. With the conference tournament now upon us, no less than four or five teams have a reasonable shot at grabbing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
MAC Tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and scores
Another great year of #MACTION reaches its climax with the tournament this week.
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Central Michigan claimed the No. 1 seed and a bye into the semifinals, but it's not without its flaws. The Chippewas suffered losses to the likes of Bradley and Ball State, all but taking them out of the at-large picture. Buffalo is in a similar state -- despite a glowing RPI number, the Bulls don't have any non-conference wins of note and may have to settle for the NIT if they don't win this tournament.
Squads like Bowling Green, Toledo, Kent State have all dazzled and baffled in equal measure this season, but any of them could make a run if they find their form at the right time. That’s part of what makes the MAC tournament so great -- it truly does feel like anything can happen.
The format
True to its nature, the MAC has one of the most unusual tournament formats in the country. The top two seeds get a bye straight to the semifinal round, while seeds No. 3 and 4 get double-byes to the quarterfinals.
Everyone else more or less plays a standard eight-team tournament in the first two rounds, with the two winning teams moving on to face the quarterfinal bye squads. The two winners of that round then get to face the top two seeds in the semis. In other words, teams seeded in the first round have to win four games just to make the final round. This is why grabbing a top-four seed is so crucial in the MAC -- the teams in those spots get nearly an entire week of rest.
Most of the tournament will be aired on Time Warner Cable’s regional sports network in the Ohio region, with the final round televised on ESPN2.
The teams
Bracket
The MAC has an official downloadable bracket available here.
Schedule and results (all times Eastern)
Monday, March 9 (First round)
Game 1: No. 5 Bowling Green 88, No. 12 Ball State 75
Game 2: No. 8 Eastern Michigan 62, No. 9 Miami-Ohio 61
Game 3: No. 6 Western Michigan 82, No. 11 Ohio 74
Game 4: No. 7 Akron 76, No. 10 Northern Illinois 52
Wednesday, March 11 (Second round)
Game 5: No. 8 Eastern Michigan 73, No. 5 Bowling Green 67
Game 6: No. 7 Akron 58, No. 6 Western Michigan 45
Thursday, March 12 (Quarterfinals)
Game 7: No. 4 Toledo 78, No. 8 Eastern Michigan 67
Game 8: No. 7 Akron 53, No. 3 Kent State 51
Friday, March 13 (Semifinals)
Game 9: No. 1 Central Michigan 75, No. 4 Toledo 66
Game 10: No. 2 Buffalo 68, No. 7 Akron 59
Saturday, March 14 (Championship)
No. 2 Buffalo 89, No. 1 Central Michigan 84
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