# 2017 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2017 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 6. The remaining rounds here held at Quicken Loans Arena (now Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse) in Cleveland, Ohio between March 9–11, 2017. The sixth-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes won the tournament and the conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament with a 70–65 win over the top-seeded Akron Zips. It is Kent State's sixth tournament title overall and first since 2008. Kent State lost to UCLA in the First Round.

## 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 received a bye to quarterfinals.
| Seed | School | Conference record | Division | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 | Tiebreaker 3 |
| 1 | Akron | 14–4 | East | | | |
| 2 | Ohio | 11–7 | East | 3–2 vs. tied teams (1–0 vs. BSU, 1–1 vs. UB, 1–1 vs. WMU) | 1–1 vs. Buffalo | .500 (1–1) vs. No. 1 Akron |
| 3 | Buffalo | 11–7 | East | 3–2 vs. tied teams (1–1 vs. BSU, 1–1 vs. Ohio, 0–1 vs. WMU) | 1–1 vs. Ohio | .000 (0–2) vs. No. 1 Akron |
| 4 | Ball State | 11–7 | West | 2–3 vs. tied teams (1–1 vs. Buffalo, 0–1 vs. Ohio, 1–1 vs. WMU) | 1–1 vs. WMU | 9–1 vs. West Division |
| 5 | Western Michigan | 11–7 | West | 2–3 vs. tied teams (1–1 vs. BSU, 0–1 vs. Buffalo, 1–1 vs. Ohio) | 1–1 vs. BSU | 7–3 vs. West Division |
| 6 | Kent State | 10–8 | East | | | |
| 7 | Toledo | 9–9 | West | | | |
| 8 | Eastern Michigan | 7–11 | West | 2–1 vs. tied teams (1–0 vs. BGSU, 1–1 vs. NIU) | 1–1 vs. NIU | .000 (0–2) vs. No. 1 Akron, .500 (1–1) vs. No. 2 Ohio |
| 9 | Northern Illinois | 7–11 | West | 2–1 vs. tied teams (1–0 vs. BGSU, 1–1 vs. EMU) | 1–1 vs. EMU | .000 (0–1) vs. No. 1 Akron, .000 (0–1) vs. No. 2 Ohio |
| 10 | Bowling Green | 7–11 | East | 0–2 vs. tied teams (0–1 vs. NIU, 0–1 vs. EMU) | | |
| 11 | Central Michigan | 6–12 | West | | | |
| 12 | Miami (OH) | 4–14 | East | | | |

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
| First round – Monday March 6 – Campus sites |||||
| 1 | 7:00 pm | No. 9 Northern Illinois at No. 8 Eastern Michigan | 69–72 | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 7:30 pm | No. 12 Miami (OH) at No. 5 Western Michigan | 61–65 | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 8:00 pm | No. 10 Bowling Green at No. 7 Toledo | 62–77 | ESPN3 |
| 4 | 7:00 pm | No. 11 Central Michigan at No. 6 Kent State | 106–116$^{OT}$ | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday March 9 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH |||||
| 5 | Noon | No. 8 Eastern Michigan vs. No. 1 Akron | 62–79 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| 6 | 2:30 pm | No. 5 Western Michigan vs. No. 4 Ball State | 63–66 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| 7 | 6:30 pm | No. 7 Toledo vs. No. 2 Ohio | 66–67 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| 8 | 9:00 pm | No. 6 Kent State vs. No. 3 Buffalo | 68–65 | BCSN ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Friday March 10 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH |||||
| 9 | 5:30 pm | No. 1 Akron vs. No. 4 Ball State | 74–70 | CBSSN |
| 10 | 8:00 pm | No. 2 Ohio vs. No. 6 Kent State | 68–66 | CBSSN |
| Championship – Saturday March 11 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH |||||
| 11 | 7:30 pm | No. 1 Akron vs. No. 6 Kent State | 70–65 | ESPN2 |
| * Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed |||||

## Bracket

| First round Monday, March 6 | First round Monday, March 6 | First round Monday, March 6 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Championship Saturday, March 11 | Championship Saturday, March 11 | Championship Saturday, March 11 |
| | | | 1 | Akron | 79 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Eastern Michigan | 62 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Eastern Michigan | 72 | 8 | Eastern Michigan | 62 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Northern Illinois | 69 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Northern Illinois | 69 | | | | 1 | Akron | 74 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Ball State | 70 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Ball State | 66 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Western Michigan | 63 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Western Michigan | 65 | 5 | Western Michigan | 63 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Miami (OH) | 61 | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Miami (OH) | 61 | | | | | | | 1 | Akron | 65 |
| | | | | | | | | | 6 | Kent State | 70 |
| | | | 2 | Ohio | 67 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Toledo | 66 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Toledo | 77 | 7 | Toledo | 66 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Bowling Green | 62 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Bowling Green | 62 | | | | 2 | Ohio | 66 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Kent State | 68 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Buffalo | 65 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Kent State | 68 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Kent State | 116* | 6 | Kent State | 68 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Central Michigan | 106 | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime period

## All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Jason Preston, Kent State
| Player | Team |
| Jaaron Simmons | Ohio |
| Antino Jackson | Akron |
| Isaiah Johnson | Akron |
| Jimmy Hall | Kent State |
| Jaylin Walker | Kent State |