2022–23 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

The 2022–23 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season is the season for Mid-American Conference men's basketball teams. It began with practices in October 2022, followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2023 and concluded in March 2023. The 2023 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio for the 24th consecutive season.

Toledo won their third straight regular season championship with a 16-2 record in MAC Play. RayJ Dennis was named player of the year. Second seed Kent State defeated Northern Illinois, Akron, and top seeded Toledo to win the MAC tournament.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Ball State On March 14, 2022, Ball State fired James Whitford after nine seasons with a 131–148 record at the school. Ball State hired UCLA assistant coach Michael Lewis on March 25, 2022.

Miami After the season Miami fired head coach Jack Owens after five years and a 70–83 record. On April 1, 2022, Miami hired Travis Steele, who had been let go by Xavier at the end of the 2022 season.

Western Michigan Clayton Bates resigned on March 7, 2022 as the head coach of Western Michigan after posting a two-year record of 13–39. On April 5, Michigan State associate head coach Dwayne Stephens was named the new head coach.

Coaches Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record School record MAC record MAC titles MAC Tournament titles NCAA tournaments NCAA Final Fours NCAA ChampionshipsAkron John Groce Illinois6 1 1 1 0 0Ball State Michael Lewis 1 0 0 0 0 0Bowling Green Michael Huger Miami (FL) (asst.)8 0 0 0 0 0Buffalo Jim Whitesell Buffalo (assoc. HC)4 0 0 0 0 0Central Michigan Tony Barbee Kentucky (asst.)2 0 0 0 0 0Eastern Michigan Stan Heath Lakeland Magic2 0 0 0 0 0Kent State Rob Senderoff Kent State (asst.)12 1 1 1 0 0Miami Travis Steele Xavier1 0 0 0 0 0Northern Illinois Rashon Burno Arizona State (asst.) 2 0 0 0 0 0Ohio Jeff Boals Stony Brook 4 0 1 1 0 0Toledo Tod Kowalczyk Green Bay 13 3 0 0 0 0Western Michigan Dwayne Stephens 1 0 0 0 0 0 Notes: Appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. Years at school includes 2022–23 season. MAC records are from time at current school only. All records are through the beginning of the season.

Preseason The preseason coaches' poll and league awards were announced by the league office on October 26, 2022."Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll & All-MAC Teams Announced" getsomemaction.com. Retrieved 2022-10-26. Kent State was named as a slight MAC favorite over 2021–22 regular season champion Toledo and 2022 MAC tournament champion Akron.

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll +Men's basketball preseason poll Place Team Points First place votes 1. Kent State 135 6 2. Toledo 131 4 3. Akron 127 2 4. Ball State 94 -- 5. Ohio 91 -- 6. Buffalo 82 -- 7. Eastern Michigan 68 -- 8. Western Michigan 66 -- 9. Bowling Green 42 -- 10. Central Michigan 38 -- 11. Miami 36 -- 12. Northern Illinois 26 --

MAC Preseason All-Conference

Honor Recipient Preseason All-MAC First TeamEnrique Freeman, F, Akron, Jr.Payton Sparks, C, Ball State, So.Sincere Carry, G, Kent State, R-Sr.JT Shumate, F, Toledo, Sr.Lamar Norman Jr., G, Western Michigan, Sr. Preseason All-MAC Second TeamXavier Castaneda, G, Akron, Sr.Kevin Miller, G, Central Michigan, SoEmoni Bates, F, Eastern Michigan, So.Malique Jacobs, G, Kent State, R-Sr.Setric Millner Jr., F, Toledo, Sr.

Regular season

Rankings

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 Final Akron AP C Ball State AP C Bowling Green AP C Buffalo AP C Central Michigan AP C Eastern Michigan AP C Kent State AP RV RV RV C RV RV Miami AP C Northern Illinois AP C Ohio AP C Toledo AP RV C RV RV Western Michigan AP C

+ Legend     Improvement in ranking   Drop in ranking   Not ranked previous week   No change in ranking from previous week RV Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Conference matrix  AkronBall StateBowling GreenBuffaloCentral MichiganEastern MichiganKent StateMiami (OH)Northern IllinoisOhioToledo Western Michiganvs. Akron — 1–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 0–2vs. Ball State 1–1 — 0–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–1vs. Bowling Green 1–0 2–0 — 1–0 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–0vs. Buffalo 2–0 0–1 0–1 — 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–1vs. Central Michigan 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 — 1–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1vs. Eastern Michigan 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 — 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–1 2–0 1–1vs. Kent State 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–2 — 0–1 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–2vs. Miami (OH) 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 — 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–2vs. Northern Illinois 1–0 2–0 0–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 — 2–0 1–0 0–2vs. Ohio 1–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–2 — 1–0 0–1vs. Toledo 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–1 0–1 — 0–1vs. Western Michigan 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 —Total 13–5 11–7 5–13 9–9 5–13 5–13 15–3 6–12 9–9 10–8 16–2 4–14

All-MAC awards

Mid-American men's basketball weekly awards

WeekPlayer(s) of the WeekSchoolNov 14RayJ DennisToledoNov 21JT Shumate and Malique JacobsToledo and Kent StateNov 28Payton Sparks and Miles BrownBall State and OhioDec 5Curtis JonesBuffaloDec 12RayJ DennisToledoDec 19Jaylin SellersBall StateDec 26Sincere CarryKent StateJan 2Reggie BassCentral MichiganJan 9Enrique FreemanAkronJan 16Miryne ThomasKent StateJan 23RayJ DennisToledoJan 30Enrique FreemanAkronFeb 6Xavier CastanedaAkronFeb 13Jaylin Hunter and Tyson AcuffOhio and Eastern MichiganFeb 20Enrique Freeman and RayJ DennisAkron and ToledoFeb 27Emoni Bates and Mekhi LairyEastern Michigan and MiamiMar 6RayJ Dennis and Sincere CarryToledo and Kent State

Postseason

Mid–American Tournament

Kent State defeated Toledo in the final to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament. Sincere Carry was the MVP.

NCAA tournament

Kent State was placed as the 13th seed in the Midwest Regional where they lost to Indiana in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

National Invitation tournament

Toledo received an automatic bid to the National Invitation tournament where they lost to Michigan in the first round.

Postseason awards

RayJ Dennis was the unanimous selection for player of the year.

Coach of the Year: Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo Player of the Year: RayJ Dennis, Toledo Freshman of the Year: Reggie Bass, Central Michigan Defensive Player of the Year: Malique Jacobs, Kent State Sixth Man of the Year: Jalen Sullinger, Kent State

Honors Honor Recipient Postseason All-MAC First TeamXavier Castaneda, Sr., G, AkronEnrique Freeman, Jr., F, AkronSincere Carry, R-Sr., G, Kent StateRayJ Dennis, Jr., G, ToledoJT Shumate, Sr., F, Toledo Postseason All-MAC Second TeamPayton Sparks, So., C, Ball StateJarron Coleman, R-Jr., G, Ball StateMalique Jacobs, R-Sr., G, Kent StateSetric Millner Jr., Sr., F, ToledoDwight Wilson III, Grad., F, Ohio Postseason All-MAC Third TeamJaylin Sellers, So., G, Ball StateCurtis Jones, So., G, BuffaloEmoni Bates, So., F, Eastern MichiganMekhi Lairy, 5th, G, MiamiDavid Coit, So., G, Northern Illinois Postseason All-MAC Honorable MentionLeon Ayers III, Sr., G, Bowling GreenAnderson Mirambeaux, Sr., F, MiamiKaleb Thornton, Sr., G, Northern IllinoisJaylin Hunter, Jr., G, OhioLamar Norman Jr., Sr., G, Western Michigan All-MAC Freshman TeamReggie Bass, Central Michigan, GRyan Mabrey, Miami, GAJ Brown, Ohio, GElmore James, Ohio, GSeth Hubbard, Western Michigan, G All-MAC Defensive TeamEnrique Freeman, AkronGreg Tribble, Jr., G, AkronDemarius Jacobs, Sr., G, Ball StateMalique Jacobs, Kent StateSincere Carry, Kent State

See also 2022–23 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season

References