# 2018 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2018 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the post-season men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Tournament first-round games were held on campus sites at the higher seed on March 5. The remaining rounds were held at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio between March 8–10, 2018. Regular-season champion Buffalo defeated Toledo in the championship game to win the tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. There they defeated Arizona before losing to Kentucky.

## Seeds

All 12 MAC teams participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The top four teams will receive a bye to quarterfinals.
| Seed | School | Conference record | Division | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Buffalo | 15–3 | East | |
| 2 | Toledo | 13–5 | West | |
| 3 | Eastern Michigan | 11–7 | West | |
| 4 | Ball State | 10–8 | West | |
| 5 | Kent State | 9–9 | East | 1–0 vs. WMU |
| 6 | Western Michigan | 9–9 | West | 0–1 vs. KSU |
| 7 | Miami (OH) | 8–10 | East | |
| 8 | Central Michigan | 7–11 | West | 3–0 vs. tied teams (2–0 vs. Ohio, 1–0 vs. BGSU) |
| 9 | Bowling Green | 7–11 | East | 1–2 vs. tied teams (1–1 vs. Ohio, 0–1 vs. CMU) |
| 10 | Ohio | 7–11 | East | 1–3 vs. tied teams (1–1 vs. BGSU, 0–2 vs. CMU) |
| 11 | Akron | 6–12 | East | 1–0 vs. NIU |
| 12 | Northern Illinois | 6–12 | West | 0–1 vs. Akron |

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
| First round – Monday March 5 – Campus sites |||||
| 1 | 7:00 pm | No. 9 Bowling Green at No. 8 Central Michigan | 77–81$^{OT}$ | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 7:00 pm | No. 12 Northern Illinois at No. 5 Kent State | 59–61 | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 7:00 pm | No. 10 Ohio at No. 7 Miami (OH) | 55–68 | ESPN3 |
| 4 | 7:45 pm | No. 11 Akron at No. 6 Western Michigan | 79–78 | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday March 8 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH |||||
| 5 | 12:00 pm | No. 8 Central Michigan vs. No. 1 Buffalo | 74–89 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| 6 | 2:30 pm | No. 5 Kent State vs. No. 4 Ball State | 76–73 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| 7 | 6:30 pm | No. 7 Miami (OH) vs. No. 2 Toledo | 69–71 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| 8 | 9:00 pm | No. 11 Akron vs. No. 3 Eastern Michigan | 58–67 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Friday March 9 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH |||||
| 9 | 6:30 pm | No. 5 Kent State vs. No. 1 Buffalo | 61–78 | CBSSN |
| 10 | 9:00 pm | No. 3 Eastern Michigan vs. No. 2 Toledo | 63–64 | CBSSN |
| Championship – Saturday March 10 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH |||||
| 11 | 7:00 pm | No. 2 Toledo vs. No. 1 Buffalo | 66–76 | ESPN2 |
| Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed |||||

## Bracket

| First round Monday, March 5 | First round Monday, March 5 | First round Monday, March 5 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 8 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 8 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 8 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Championship Saturday, March 10 | Championship Saturday, March 10 | Championship Saturday, March 10 |
| | | | 1 | Buffalo | 89 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Central Michigan | 74 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Central Michigan | 81* | 8 | Central Michigan | 74 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Bowling Green | 77 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Bowling Green | 77 | | | | 1 | Buffalo | 78 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Kent State | 61 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Ball State | 73 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Kent State | 76 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Kent State | 61 | 5 | Kent State | 76 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Northern Illinois | 59 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Northern Illinois | 59 | | | | | | | 1 | Buffalo | 76 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Toledo | 66 |
| | | | 2 | Toledo | 71 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Miami (OH) | 69 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Miami (OH) | 68 | 7 | Miami (OH) | 69 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Ohio | 55 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Ohio | 55 | | | | 2 | Toledo | 64 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Eastern Michigan | 63 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Eastern Michigan | 67 | | | | | | |
| | | | 11 | Akron | 58 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Western Michigan | 78 | 11 | Akron | 58 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Akron | 79 | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime period

## All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Wes Clark, Buffalo
| Player | Team |
| Marreon Jackson | Toledo |
| Jaelan Sanford | Toledo |
| Jeremy Harris | Buffalo |
| Wes Clark | Buffalo |
| Paul Jackson | Eastern Michigan |