# 2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

The 2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in January 2021 and concluded in March 2021. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Toledo won the regular season title with a conference record of 15-4. Ohio won the MAC tournament and represented the MAC in the NCAA tournament where they defeated No. 4-seeded Virginia in the first round before falling to No. 5-seeded Creighton in the second round. Toledo went to the NIT where they lost to Richmond in the first round.

## Preseason awards

The preseason coaches' poll and league awards were announced by the league office on November 19, 2020.

### Preseason men's basketball coaches poll

(First place votes in parentheses)
* Bowling Green (8) 132
* Ohio (1) 117
* Akron (2) 115
* Buffalo 109
* Ball State 104
* Toledo (1) 93
* Kent State 65
* Eastern Michigan 57
* Miami 48
* Northern Illinois 43
* Central Michigan 40
* Western Michigan 13
MAC tournament champions: Bowling Green (4), Akron (2), Ball State (1), Buffalo (1), Eastern Michigan (1), Kent State (1), Miami (1), Toledo (1)

### Honors

| Honor | Recipient |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Loren Cristian Jackson, Akron |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Justin Turner, Bowling Green |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Jayvon Graves, Buffalo |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Jason Preston, Ohio |
| Preseason All-MAC First Team | Marreon Jackson, Toledo |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Ishmael El-Amin, Ball State |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Daeqwon Plowden, Bowling Green |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Josh Mballa, Buffalo |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Danny Pippen, Kent State |
| Preseason All-MAC Second Team | Ben Vander Plas, Ohio |

## Conference matrix

| | Akron | Ball State | Bowling Green | Buffalo | Central Michigan | Eastern Michigan | Kent State | Miami (OH) | Northern Illinois | Ohio | Toledo | Western Michigan |
| vs. Akron | – | 0−2 | 1−1 | 1−0 | 0−1 | 1−1 | 0−2 | 0−1 | 1−1 | 1–1 | 1−1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Ball State | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1−0 | 0−2 | 2–0 | 1−1 | 0–1 |
| vs. Bowling Green | 1–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 0−2 | 0−1 | 2−0 | 2−0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| vs. Buffalo | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | – | 0−1 | 0−1 | 1−1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Central Michigan | 1–0 | 1−0 | 2−0 | 1−0 | – | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1−0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Eastern Michigan | 1–1 | 1−0 | 1−0 | 1−0 | 2–0 | – | 1−0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Kent State | 2–0 | 1−0 | 0−2 | 1−1 | 0–2 | 0−1 | – | 0–2 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Miami (OH) | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0−2 | 2–0 | 0−1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | – | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2−0 | 0–2 |
| vs. Northern Illinois | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1−0 | 2–0 | – | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| vs. Ohio | 1−1 | 0−2 | 1−0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1−0 | 0−1 | 0−1 | – | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| vs. Toledo | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0−1 | 1−1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0−2 | 0−1 | 0–1 | − | 0–2 |
| vs. Western Michigan | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1−0 | 0−2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2−0 | 0−1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | - |
| Total | 12–6 | 8–9 | 10–8 | 12–5 | 3–13 | 3–11 | 12–6 | 9–8 | 2–12 | 9–5 | 15–4 | 4–12 |

## All-MAC awards
### Mid-American men's basketball weekly awards

| Week | Player(s) of the Week | School |
| Nov 30 | Jason Preston | Ohio |
| Dec 7 | Justin Turner | Bowling Green |
| Dec 14 | Danny Pippen | Kent State |
| Dec 21 | Marreon Jackson | Toledo |
| Dec 28 | Loren Cristian Jackson | Akron |
| Jan 4 | Loren Cristian Jackson | Akron |
| Jan 11 | Josh Mballa | Buffalo |
| Jan 18 | Danny Pippen | Kent State |
| Jan 25 | Dae Dae Grant | Miami |
| Feb 1 | Danny Pippen | Kent State |
| Feb 8 | Greg Lee | Western Michigan |
| Feb 15 | Daeqwon Plowden | Bowling Green |
| Feb 22 | Marreon Jackson | Toledo |
| Mar 1 | Jarron Coleman | Ball State |
| Mar 8 | Jayvon Graves | Buffalo |

## Postseason
### Postseason awards

* Coach of the Year: Tod Kowalczyk, Toledo
* Player of the Year: Marreon Jackson, Toledo
* Freshman of the Year: Ryan Rollins, Toledo
* Defensive Player of the Year: Josh Mballa, Buffalo
* Sixth Man of the Year: Trey Diggs, Bowling Green

### Honors

| Honor | Recipient |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | Loren Cristian Jackson, Akron |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | Justin Turner, Bowling Green |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | Danny Pippen, Kent State |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | Jason Preston, Ohio |
| Postseason All-MAC First Team | Marreon Jackson, Toledo |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Ishmael El-Amin, Ball State |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Josh Mballa, Buffalo |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Jeenathan Williams, Buffalo |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Jayvon Graves, Buffalo |
| Postseason All-MAC Second Team | Spencer Littleson, Toledo |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Daeqwon Plowden, Bowling Green |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Michael Nuga, Kent State |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Dae Dae Grant, Miami |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Ben Vander Plas, Ohio |
| Postseason All-MAC Third Team | Dwight Wilson III, Ohio |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Josiah Fulcher, Bowling Green |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Kaden Matheny, Bowling Green |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Aundre Polk, Central Michigan |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Mark Sears, Ohio |
| All-MAC Freshman Team | Ryan Rollins, Toledo |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Enrique Freeman, Akron |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Josh Mballa, Buffalo |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Malique Jacobs, Kent State |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Lunden McDay, Ohio |
| All-MAC Defensive Team | Spencer Littleson, Toledo |