2023 MAC men's basketball tournament explained

The 2023 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held March 9–11, 2023. The entire tournament was played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1] Kent State defeated Toledo in the final to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.^[2] Sincere Carry was the MVP.^[3]

Format

As with the 2021, and 2022 tournament, only the top eight teams qualified. The winner of the tournament received the MAC's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.^[4]

Venue

The 2023 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the 24th consecutive season. The venue, located in downtown Cleveland at One Center Court, is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and has a seating capacity for basketball of 19,432.^{[5] [6]}

Seeds

Eight out of the 12 MAC teams qualified for the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.^[7]

Seed	School	Conference record	Tiebreaker
1	Toledo	16–2
2	Kent State	15–3
3	Akron	13–5
4	Ball State	11–7
5	Ohio	10–8
6	Buffalo	9–9	2–0 vs. Northern Illinois
7	Northern Illinois	9–9	0–2 vs. Buffalo
8	Miami	6–12
DNQ	Bowling Green	5–13	3–1 vs Eastern Michigan & Central Michigan
DNQ	Eastern Michigan	5–13	1–2 vs Bowling Green & Central Michigan; 1–0 vs. Central Michigan
DNQ	Central Michigan	5–13	1–2 vs Bowling Green & Eastern Michigan; 0–1 vs. Eastern Michigan
DNQ	Western Michigan	4–14

Schedule

Session	Game	Time*	Matchup	Score	Attendance	Television
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 9 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
1	1	11:00 am	No. 1 Toledo vs No. 8 Miami	91–75[8]	3,852	ESPN+
	2	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 Ball State vs No. 5 Ohio	70–90[9]
	3	4:00 p.m.	No. 2 Kent State vs No. 7 Northern Illinois	76–57[10]
	4	6:30 pm	No. 3 Akron vs No. 6 Buffalo	101–77[11]
Semifinals – Friday, March 10 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
2	5	5:00 pm	No. 1 Toledo vs No. 5 Ohio	82–75[12]	9,295	CBSSN
	6	7:30 pm	No. 2 Kent State vs No. 3 Akron	79–73[13]
Championship – Saturday, March 11 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
3	7	7:30 pm	No. 1 Toledo vs No. 2 Kent State	78–93[14]	8,375	ESPN2
Game times in ET. -Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Source^[15]

All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Sincere Carry

Player	Team
Sincere Carry	Kent State
Malique Jacobs	Kent State
RayJ Dennis	Toledo
Setric Millner Jr.	Toledo
Xavier Castaneda	Akron

Source^[3]

See also

• 2023 MAC women's basketball tournament

External links

• 2023 MAC Men's Basketball Championship

Notes and References

1. Web site: MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030. Cleveland 19 News. en. 2022-06-09.
2. Web site: MAC champs! Kent State beats Toledo . FOX 8 Cleveland . March 11, 2023 . March 12, 2023.
3. Web site: Flash Dance: Kent State Headed To NCAA Tournament . Mid-American conference . March 11, 2023 . March 12, 2023.
4. Web site: MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments . ABC News . May 12, 2020 . June 9, 2022.
5. Web site: About. January 11, 2022. Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
6. Web site: A-Z Guide. January 11, 2022. Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
7. Web site: Tie-Breaker Procedures. February 1, 2022. Mid-American Conference.
8. Web site: Miami 75, Toledo 91. ESPN. March 9, 2023.
9. Web site: Ohio 90, Ball State 70. ESPN. March 9, 2023.
10. Web site: Northern Illinois 57, Kent State 76. ESPN. March 9, 2023.
11. Web site: Buffalo 77, Akron 101. ESPN. March 9, 2023.
12. Web site: Ohio 75, Toledo 82. ESPN. March 10, 2023.
13. Web site: Akron 73, Kent State 79. ESPN. March 10, 2023.
14. Web site: Toledo 78, Kent State 93. ESPN. March 11, 2023.
15. Web site: 2023 MAC Men's Basketball Championship. March 8, 2023. Mid-American Conference.