# 2009 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2009 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the post-season men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) 2008–2009 season. The winner of the tournament receives the MAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournament. Fifth-seeded Akron defeated Buffalo in the final. In the NCAA tournament they lost in the first round to Gonzaga.

## Format

Each of the 12 men's basketball teams in the MAC receives a berth in the conference tournament. Teams are seeded by conference record with the following tie-breakers:
* Head-to-head competition
* Winning percentage vs. ranked conference teams (top to bottom, regardless of division, vs. common opponents regardless of the number of times played)
* Coin flip
The top four seeds receive byes into the quarterfinals. The winners of each division are awarded the #1 and #2 seeds. The team with the best record of the two receives the #1 seed.

## Bracket

| First round Tuesday, March 10 | First round Tuesday, March 10 | First round Tuesday, March 10 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Final Saturday, March 14 | Final Saturday, March 14 | Final Saturday, March 14 |
| | | | 1 | Bowling Green | 74 | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Ohio | 61 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Western Michigan | 55 | 9 | Ohio | 61 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Ohio | 62 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Ohio | 62 | | | | 1 | Bowling Green | 55 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Akron | 63 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Miami (OH) | 63 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Akron | 73 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Akron | 93* | 5 | Akron | 73 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Toledo | 92 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Toledo | 92 | | | | | | | 5 | Akron | 65 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Buffalo | 53 |
| | | | 2 | Ball State | 64* | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Central Michigan | 61 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Central Michigan | 62 | 7 | Central Michigan | 61 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Eastern Michigan | 49 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Eastern Michigan | 49 | | | | 2 | Ball State | 52 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Buffalo | 64 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Buffalo | 65 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Kent State | 62 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Kent State | 64 | 6 | Kent State | 62 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Northern Illinois | 61 | | | | | | | | | |
* Overtime

### Tiebreakers
#### Seeds

| Seed | Team | Record | Tiebreaker #1 | Tiebreaker #2 | Tiebreaker #3 | Tiebreaker #4 | Tiebreaker #5 |
| 1 | Bowling Green | 11–5 | 2–0 head-to-head | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | Ball State | 7–9 | Division champ | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | Buffalo | 11–5 | 0–2 head-to-head | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | Miami | 10–6 | 3–1 head-to-head | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | Akron | 10–6 | 2–2 head-to-head | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | Kent State | 10–6 | 1–3 head-to-head | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | Central Michigan | 7–9 | 2–1 head-to-head | 1–1 head-to-head | 0–1 vs. #1 BGSU | 0–1 vs. #2 Buffalo | 1–0 vs. #3 Miami |
| 8 | Western Michigan | 7–9 | 2–1 head-to-head | 1–1 head-to-head | 0–1 vs. #1 BGSU | 0–1 vs. #2 Buffalo | 0–1 vs. #3 Miami |
| 9 | Ohio | 7–9 | 0–2 head-to-head | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Eastern Michigan | 6–10 | 1–1 head-to-head | 1–0 vs. #1 BGSU | – | – | – |
| 11 | Northern Illinois | 6–10 | 1–1 head-to-head | 0–1 vs. #1 BGSU | – | – | – |
| 12 | Toledo | 1–15 | – | – | – | – | – |

#### West Division

| Team | Record | Tiebreaker #1 | Tiebreaker #2 | Tiebreaker #3 |
| Ball State | 7–9 | 2–2 head-to-head | 0–1 vs. #1 BGSU | 1–0 vs. #2 Buffalo |
| Central Michigan | 7–9 | 2–2 head-to-head | 0–1 vs. #1 BGSU | 0–1 vs. #2 Buffalo |
| Western Michigan | 7–9 | 2–2 head-to-head | 0–1 vs. #1 BGSU | 0–1 vs. #2 Buffalo |

## All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Nate Linhart, Akron
| Player | Team |
| Nate Linhart | Akron |
| Brett McKnight | Akron |
| Steve McNees | Akron |
| Max Boudreau | Buffalo |
| Nate Miller | Bowling Green |