# Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament

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 Men's Division I Basketball Championship. 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. 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 | Crisler Arena (first round on-campus) | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| 1982 | Northern Illinois | 79–75 (OT) | Ball State | Allen Rayhorn, Northern Illinois | Crisler Arena (first round on-campus) | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| 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 | Centennial Hall | Toledo, Ohio |
| 1989 | Ball State | 67–65 | Kent State | Billy Butts, Ball State | Centennial Hall | Toledo, Ohio |
| 1990 | Ball State | 78–56 | Central Michigan | Billy Butts, Ball State | Cobo Arena | Detroit, Michigan |
| 1991 | Eastern Michigan | 67–66 | Toledo | Marcus Kennedy, Eastern Michigan | Cobo Arena | Detroit, Michigan |
| 1992 | Miami | 58–57 | Ball State | Bill Gillis, Ball State | Cobo Arena | Detroit, Michigan |
| 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) | Columbus, Ohio |
| 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) | Toledo, Ohio |
| 1997 | Miami | 96–76 | Eastern Michigan | Devin Davis, Miami | SeaGate Convention Centre (first round on-campus) | Toledo, Ohio |
| 1998 | Eastern Michigan | 92–77 | Miami | Earl Boykins, Eastern Michigan | SeaGate Convention Centre (first round on-campus) | Toledo, Ohio |
| 1999 | Kent State | 49–43 | Miami | John Whorton, Kent State | SeaGate Convention Centre (first round on-campus) | Toledo, Ohio |
| 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 | Gund Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2002 | Kent State | 70–59 | Bowling Green | Trevor Huffman, Kent State | Gund Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2003 | Central Michigan | 77–72 | Kent State | Chris Kaman, Central Michigan | Gund Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2004 | Western Michigan | 77–66 | Kent State | Mike Williams, Western Michigan | Gund Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2005 | Ohio | 80–79 (OT) | Buffalo | Leon Williams, Ohio | Gund Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2006 | Kent State | 71–66 | Toledo | Kevin Warzynski, Kent State | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2007 | Miami | 53–52 | Akron | Tim Pollitz, Miami | Quicken Loans Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2008 | Kent State | 74–55 | Akron | Haminn Quaintance, Kent State | Quicken Loans Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2009 | Akron | 65–53 | Buffalo | Nate Linhart, Akron | Quicken Loans Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2010 | Ohio | 81–75 (OT) | Akron | Armon Bassett, Ohio | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2011 | Akron | 66–65 (OT) | Kent State | Zeke Marshall, Akron | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2012 | Ohio | 64–63 | Akron | D. J. Cooper, Ohio | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2013 | Akron | 65–46 | Ohio | Demetrius Treadwell, Akron | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2014 | Western Michigan | 98–77 | Toledo | David Brown, Western Michigan | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2015 | Buffalo | 89–84 | Central Michigan | Xavier Ford, Buffalo | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2016 | Buffalo | 64–61 | Akron | Willie Conner, Buffalo | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2017 | Kent State | 70–65 | Akron | Jaylin Walker, Kent State | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2018 | Buffalo | 76–66 | Toledo | Wes Clark, Buffalo | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2019 | Buffalo | 87–73 | Bowling Green | Jeremy Harris, Buffalo | Quicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2021 | Ohio | 84–69 | Buffalo | Jason Preston, Ohio | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2022 | Akron | 75–55 | Kent State | Enrique Freeman, Akron | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2023 | Kent State | 93–78 | Toledo | Sincere Carry, Kent State | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2024 | Akron | 62–61 | Kent State | Enrique Freeman, Akron | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2025 | Akron | 76–74 | Miami | Nate Johnson, Akron | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2026 | | | | | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2027 | | | | | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2028 | | | | | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2029 | | | | | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |
| 2030 | | | | | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio |

## Performance by school

| School | Championships | Championship Years | Appearances | W | L | Pct. |
| Ball State | 7 | 1981, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 2000 | 33 | 37 | 27 | .578 |
| Ohio | 7 | 1983, 1985, 1994, 2005, 2010, 2012, 2021 | 33 | 38 | 26 | .594 |
| Kent State | 7 | 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2023 | 32 | 34 | 27 | .557 |
| Akron | 6 | 2009, 2011, 2013, 2022, 2024, 2025 | 17 | 20 | 13 | .606 |
| Miami | 4 | 1984, 1992, 1997, 2007 | 33 | 38 | 28 | .576 |
| Eastern Michigan | 4 | 1988, 1991, 1996, 1998 | 33 | 25 | 28 | .472 |
| Buffalo | 4 | 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 | 15 | 11 | 14 | .440 |
| Central Michigan | 2 | 1987, 2003 | 22 | 14 | 20 | .412 |
| Western Michigan | 2 | 2004, 2014 | 29 | 20 | 29 | .408 |
| Toledo | 1 | 1980 | 30 | 26 | 28 | .481 |
| Northern Illinois | 1 | 1982 | 21 | 11 | 18 | .379 |
| Bowling Green | 0 | – | 32 | 19 | 31 | .380 |
| Marshall * | 0 | – | 8 | 5 | 8 | .385 |
* No longer member of MAC

## Broadcasters

| Year | Network | Play-by-play | Analyst |
| 2024 | ESPN2 | Eric Rothman | Mark Adams |
| 2023 | ESPN2 | Robert Lee | David Padgett |
| 2022 | ESPN2 | Robert Lee | Mark Wise |
| 2021 | ESPN2 | Jason Benetti | Jon Crispin |
| 2020 | ESPN2 | Roy Philpott | David Padgett |
| 2019 | ESPN2 | Robert Lee | Julianne Viani |
| 2018 | ESPN2 | Clay Matvick | Rob Kennedy |
| 2017 | ESPN2 | Mike Morgan | Chris Spatola |
| 2016 | ESPN2 | Mike Morgan | Chris Spatola |
| 2015 | ESPN2 | Bob Wischusen | LaPhonso Ellis |
| 2014 | ESPN2 | Bob Wischusen | LaPhonso Ellis |
| 2013 | ESPN2 | Bob Wischusen | Stephen Bardo |
| 2012 | ESPN2 | Bob Wischusen | Stephen Bardo |
| 2011 | ESPN2 | Bob Wischusen | Stephen Bardo |
| 2010 | ESPN2 | Ron Franklin | Mark Adams |
| 2009 | ESPN2 | Bob Wischusen | Mark Adams |
| 2008 | ESPN2 | Jon Sciambi | Mark Adams |
| 2007 | ESPN2 | Michael Reghi | Mark Adams |