The Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament is an NCAA Division I postseason single-elimination tournament. The winner of the tournament receives the Mid-American Conference (MAC) automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. As of 2021, the top eight teams in conference play qualify for the tournament. Since 2000, the MAC Tournament has been held at Rocket Arena in Cleveland and is planned to be held there through at least 2030. The finals are broadcast on ESPN2 while the semifinals on CBS Sports Network & the quarterfinals are on ESPN+ for streaming.

The tournament was first played in 1980 and expanded to include all conference members in 2000. The tournament continued to involve all conference members (barring postseason bans due to NCAA sanctions) through the 2020 edition, which was canceled in progress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, as part of a broader suite of changes to MAC postseason tournaments triggered by the pandemic, the MAC announced it would reduce its men's and women's basketball tournaments to 8 teams, with all qualifying teams playing in Cleveland. Additionally, the MAC eliminated its basketball divisions and increased its conference schedule from 18 to 20 games. These changes will remain in place through at least the 2023–24 season. Akron, Ball State, Kent State, and Ohio have the most tournament championships with seven.

Format Seeding for the tournament is determined by winning percentage in conference play; during the era of MAC divisional play, divisional alignment did not figure into tournament seeding. The following tiebreakers are used:

1. Between two teams: A. Head-to-head competition; B. Division Record (only used if the two teams in question are tied for the Division lead); C. Winning percentage vs. ranked conference teams (top to bottom, regardless of division, vs. common opponents regardless of the number of times played); D. Coin flip

2. For multiple (3 or more) team ties: A. Total won-lost record/winning percentage of games played among the tied teams; B. Two (2)-team tie-breaker procedure goes into effect

Historical formats From 2016 through the abbreviated 2020 edition, all 12 conference members participated in the tournament. The top four seeds received byes into the quarterfinals; seeds 5-12 played first-round games at the campus of the higher seed. Winners of the first-round games advanced to face the top four seeds in the quarterfinal round in Cleveland.

From 2012 through 2015, the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds received byes straight to the semifinals, with the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds beginning tournament play in the quarterfinals. Teams seeded 5–12 played an additional two rounds. First round games were played at the home sites of the higher seeds, with the remaining rounds being contested at Rocket Arena, then known as Quicken Loans Arena. Under this format, a team seeded fifth or lower had to win four games in six days, while playing five games in eight days, to win the conference tournament. The division winners were guaranteed to receive a seed not lower than four.

From 2002 through 2011, the format for the conference tournament was similar to the 2016 through 2020 format. Each conference member received a berth in the tournament, with the top four seeds receiving byes into the quarterfinals. Unlike the current format, division winners were guaranteed at least the No. 2 seed. First round games for seeds 5–12 were played at the home sites of the higher seeds, with the remaining rounds being contested at Quicken Loans Arena.

From 1980 through 1988, seven teams qualified for the three-round tournament. The No. 1 seed received a bye into the semifinals. In 1989, an eighth team was added and each of the teams participated in all three rounds. The tournament was expanded in 2000 to four rounds and included all 13 conference teams. The top three teams received byes into the quarterfinals.

Tournament champions Year Champion Score Runner-up Tournament MVP Location City 1980 Toledo 85–70 Bowling Green Jim Swaney, Toledo Crisler Arena (first round on-campus) Ann Arbor, Michigan 1981 Ball State 79–66 Northern Illinois Ray McCallum, Ball State 1982 Northern Illinois 79–75 (OT) Ball State Allen Rayhorn, Northern Illinois 1983 Ohio 59–56 Bowling Green John Devereaux, Ohio On-campus (championship at Anderson Arena) Bowling Green, Ohio 1984 Miami 42–40 Kent State Chuck Stahl, Miami MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois 1985 Ohio 74–64 Miami Ron Harper, Miami Centennial Hall Toledo, Ohio 1986 Ball State 87–79 Miami Dan Palombizio, Ball State MetroCentre Rockford, Illinois 1987 Central Michigan 64–63 Kent State Dan Majerle, Central Michigan Centennial Hall Toledo, Ohio 1988 Eastern Michigan 94–80 Ohio Grant Long, Eastern Michigan 1989 Ball State 67–65 Kent State Billy Butts, Ball State 1990 Ball State 78–56 Central Michigan Cobo Arena Detroit, Michigan 1991 Eastern Michigan 67–66 Toledo Marcus Kennedy, Eastern Michigan 1992 Miami 58–57 Ball State Bill Gillis, Ball State 1993 Ball State 79–64 Western Michigan Steve Payne, Ball State Battelle Hall Columbus, Ohio 1994 Ohio 89–66 Miami Gary Trent, Ohio Battelle Hall (first round on-campus) 1995 Ball State 77–70 Eastern Michigan Steve Payne, Ball State Savage Hall (first round on-campus) Toledo, Ohio 1996 Eastern Michigan 77–63 Toledo Brian Tolbert, Eastern Michigan SeaGate Convention Centre (first round on-campus) 1997 Miami 96–76 Eastern Michigan Devin Davis, Miami 1998 Eastern Michigan 92–77 Miami Earl Boykins, Eastern Michigan 1999 Kent State 49–43 Miami John Whorton, Kent State 2000 Ball State 61–58 Miami Duane Clemens, Ball State Gund Arena (first round on-campus) Cleveland, Ohio 2001 Kent State 67–61 Miami Trevor Huffman, Kent State 2002 Kent State 70–59 Bowling Green 2003 Central Michigan 77–72 Kent State Chris Kaman, Central Michigan 2004 Western Michigan 77–66 Kent State Mike Williams, Western Michigan 2005 Ohio 80–79 (OT) Buffalo Leon Williams, Ohio 2006 Kent State 71–66 Toledo Kevin Warzynski, Kent State Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) 2007 Miami 53–52 Akron Tim Pollitz, Miami Quicken Loans Arena 2008 Kent State 74–55 Akron Haminn Quaintance, Kent State 2009 Akron 65–53 Buffalo Nate Linhart, Akron 2010 Ohio 81–75 (OT) Akron Armon Bassett, Ohio Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) 2011 Akron 66–65 (OT) Kent State Zeke Marshall, Akron 2012 Ohio 64–63 Akron D. J. Cooper, Ohio 2013 Akron 65–46 Ohio Demetrius Treadwell, Akron 2014 Western Michigan 98–77 Toledo David Brown, Western Michigan 2015 Buffalo 89–84 Central Michigan Xavier Ford, Buffalo 2016 Buffalo 64–61 Akron Willie Conner, Buffalo 2017 Kent State 70–65 Akron Jaylin Walker, Kent State 2018 Buffalo 76–66 Toledo Wes Clark, Buffalo 2019 Buffalo 87–73 Bowling Green Jeremy Harris, Buffalo 2020 Quarterfinal, Semifinal, and Final rounds cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 2021 Ohio 84–69 Buffalo Jason Preston, Ohio 2022 Akron 75–55 Kent State Enrique Freeman, Akron 2023 Kent State 93–78 Toledo Sincere Carry, Kent State 2024 Akron 62–61 Kent State Enrique Freeman, Akron 2025 Akron 76–74 Miami Nate Johnson, Akron Rocket Arena 2026 Akron 79–76 Toledo Tavari Johnson, Akron 2027 2028 2029 2030

Performance by school School Tenure Championships Championship years Appearances W L Pct. Ball State 1980–present 7 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000 33 37 27 Ohio 1980–present 7 1983, 1985, 1994, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2021 33 38 26 Kent State 1980–present 7 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2023 32 34 27 Akron 1993–present 7 2009, 2011, 2013, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026 17 20 13 Eastern Michigan 1980–present 4 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998 33 25 28 Miami 1980–present 4 1984, 1992, 1997, 2007 33 38 28 Buffalo 1999–present 4 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 15 11 14 Central Michigan 1980–present 2 1987, 2003 22 14 20 Western Michigan 1980–present 2 2004, 2014 29 20 29 Toledo 1980–present 1 1980 30 26 28 Northern Illinois 1980–19861998–present 1 1982 21 11 18 Bowling Green 1980–present 0 — 32 19 31 UMass 2026–present 0 — 0 0 0 — Marshall 1998–2005 0 — 8 5 8 Former conference members shaded in ██ silver

Broadcasters Year Network Play-by-play Analyst2025ESPN2 Rich Hollenberg Jess Settles2024 Eric Rothman Mark Adams2023Robert Lee David Padgett2022 Mark Wise2021 Jason Benetti Jon Crispin2020(cancelled) Roy Philpott David Padgett2019 Robert Lee Julianne Viani2018 Clay Matvick Rob Kennedy2017Mike MorganChris Spatola20162015Bob WischusenLaPhonso Ellis20142013Stephen Bardo201220112010 Ron FranklinMark Adams 2009 Bob Wischusen 2008http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_releases/2008_03_mar/20080303_ChampionshipWeek.htm Jon Sciambi 2007 Michael Reghi2006 Scott Graham2005 Tim Barnett Tim McCormick2004 2003 Tim Barnett Tim McCormick2002 Dave Barnett Quinn Buckner2001 Matt Devlin Doris Burke2000ESPN Derrin Horton Tim McCormick1999 Ron Franklin Larry Conley1998 1997 Bob Carpenter Jimmy Dykes1996 John Walls Jon Albright1995Bob Carpenter Reggie Theus1994 Larry Farmer1993 Dan PatrickDerrek Dickey1992 Steve Zabriskie1991 Dave SimsGreg Kelser1990 Wayne Hagin1989 Gary Sparber Jon Albright1988 1987 Dave Diles Denny Schreiner

See also Mid-American Conference women's basketball tournament

References