# 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 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 Championships |
| Akron | John Groce | Illinois | 6 | 274–190 (.591) | 94–59 (.614) | 54–38 (.587) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Ball State | Michael Lewis | UCLA (Asst.) | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bowling Green | Michael Huger | Miami (FL) (Asst.) | 8 | 115–105 (.523) | 115–105 (.523) | 59–69 (.461) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Buffalo | Jim Whitesell | Buffalo (Assoc. HC) | 4 | 430–340 (.558) | 55–32 (.632) | 36–18 (.667) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Central Michigan | Tony Barbee | Kentucky (Asst.) | 2 | 138–150 (.479) | 7–23 (.233) | 6–12 (.333) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eastern Michigan | Stan Heath | Lakeland Magic | 2 | 219–228 (.490) | 10–21 (.323) | 5–15 (.250) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kent State | Rob Senderoff | Kent State (Asst.) | 12 | 219–140 (.610) | 219–140 (.610) | 115–81 (.587) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Miami | Travis Steele | Xavier | 1 | 70–50 (.583) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Illinois | Rashon Burno | Arizona State (Asst.) | 2 | 9–21 (.300) | 9–21 (.300) | 6–14 (.300) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | Jeff Boals | Stony Brook | 4 | 114–75 (.603) | 59–33 (.641) | 31–21 (.596) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Toledo | Tod Kowalczyk | Green Bay | 13 | 367–272 (.574) | 231–160 (.591) | 126–87 (.592) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Western Michigan | Dwayne Stephens | Michigan State (Assoc. HC) | 1 | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 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. 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 Team | Enrique Freeman, F, Akron, Jr. |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Payton Sparks, C, Ball State, So. |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Sincere Carry, G, Kent State, R-Sr. |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | JT Shumate, F, Toledo, Sr. |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Lamar Norman Jr., G, Western Michigan, Sr. |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Xavier Castaneda, G, Akron, Sr. |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Kevin Miller, G, Central Michigan, So |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Emoni Bates, F, Eastern Michigan, So. |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Malique Jacobs, G, Kent State, R-Sr. |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Setric Millner Jr., F, Toledo, Sr. |

## Regular season
### Rankings

| | | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 |
| Akron | AP | | | | | |
| Akron | C | | | | | |
| Ball State | AP | | | | | |
| Ball State | C | | | | | |
| Bowling Green | AP | | | | | |
| Bowling Green | C | | | | | |
| Buffalo | AP | | | | | |
| Buffalo | C | | | | | |
| Central Michigan | AP | | | | | |
| Central Michigan | C | | | | | |
| Eastern Michigan | AP | | | | | |
| Eastern Michigan | C | | | | | |
| Kent State | AP | RV | RV | | | RV |
| Kent State | C | | RV | | | RV |
| Miami | AP | | | | | |
| Miami | C | | | | | |
| Northern Illinois | AP | | | | | |
| Northern Illinois | C | | | | | |
| Ohio | AP | | | | | |
| Ohio | C | | | | | |
| Toledo | AP | | | | RV | |
| Toledo | C | | | RV | RV | |
| Western Michigan | AP | | | | | |
| Western Michigan | 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

| | Akron | Ball State | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Central Michigan | Eastern Michigan | Kent State | Miami (OH) | Northern Illinois | Ohio | Toledo | Western Michigan |
| vs. Akron | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Ball State | 1–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. Bowling Green | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Buffalo | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Central Michigan | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Eastern Michigan | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| vs. Kent State | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| vs. Miami (OH) | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Northern Illinois | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Ohio | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Toledo | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–1 |
| vs. 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

| Week | Player(s) of the Week | School |
| Nov 14 | RayJ Dennis | Toledo |
| Nov 21 | JT Shumate and Malique Jacobs | Toledo and Kent State |
| Nov 28 | Payton Sparks and Miles Brown | Ball State and Ohio |
| Dec 5 | Curtis Jones | Buffalo |
| Dec 12 | RayJ Dennis | Toledo |
| Dec 19 | Jaylin Sellers | Ball State |
| Dec 26 | Sincere Carry | Kent State |
| Jan 2 | Reggie Bass | Central Michigan |
| Jan 9 | Enrique Freeman | Akron |
| Jan 16 | Miryne Thomas | Kent State |
| Jan 23 | RayJ Dennis | Toledo |
| Jan 30 | Enrique Freeman | Akron |
| Feb 6 | Xavier Castaneda | Akron |
| Feb 13 | Jaylin Hunter and Tyson Acuff | Ohio and Eastern Michigan |
| Feb 20 | Enrique Freeman and RayJ Dennis | Akron and Toledo |
| Feb 27 | Emoni Bates and Mekhi Lairy | Eastern Michigan and Miami |
| Mar 6 | RayJ Dennis and Sincere Carry | Toledo 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 Team | Xavier Castaneda, Sr., G, Akron |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | Enrique Freeman, Jr., F, Akron |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | Sincere Carry, R-Sr., G, Kent State |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | RayJ Dennis, Jr., G, Toledo |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | JT Shumate, Sr., F, Toledo |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Payton Sparks, So., C, Ball State |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Jarron Coleman, R-Jr., G, Ball State |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Malique Jacobs, R-Sr., G, Kent State |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Setric Millner Jr., Sr., F, Toledo |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Dwight Wilson III, Grad., F, Ohio |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Jaylin Sellers, So., G, Ball State |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Curtis Jones, So., G, Buffalo |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Emoni Bates, So., F, Eastern Michigan |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Mekhi Lairy, 5th, G, Miami |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | David Coit, So., G, Northern Illinois |
| Postseason All-MAC Honorable Mention | Leon Ayers III, Sr., G, Bowling Green |
| Postseason All-MAC Honorable Mention | Anderson Mirambeaux, Sr., F, Miami |
| Postseason All-MAC Honorable Mention | Kaleb Thornton, Sr., G, Northern Illinois |
| Postseason All-MAC Honorable Mention | Jaylin Hunter, Jr., G, Ohio |
| Postseason All-MAC Honorable Mention | Lamar Norman Jr., Sr., G, Western Michigan |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Reggie Bass, Central Michigan, G |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Ryan Mabrey, Miami, G |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | AJ Brown, Ohio, G |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Elmore James, Ohio, G |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Seth Hubbard, Western Michigan, G |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Enrique Freeman, Akron |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Greg Tribble, Jr., G, Akron |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Demarius Jacobs, Sr., G, Ball State |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Malique Jacobs, Kent State |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Sincere Carry, Kent State |