# 2016 MAC women's basketball tournament

The 2016 Mid-American Conference women's basketball tournament is a post-season basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) 2015–16 college basketball season. Tournament first-round games will be held on campus sites at the higher seed on March 7. The remaining rounds will be held at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland between March 9–12. The winner of the tournament will receive the conference's automatic bid into the 2016 NCAA tournament.
Defending champion Ohio earned the #1 seed. Both of Ohio's conference losses had come against eight-seeded Buffalo. The young Bulls defeated #9 seed Bowling Green and then upset Ohio for a third time that season in the quarter-final. Buffalo then defeated fifth-seeded Akron and regular season runner-up Central Michigan to win the tournament championship. Stephanie Reid of Buffalo was the MVP. With the automatic bid, Buffalo lost to Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament.

## Format

Unlike with the recent tournaments, where the top two seeds received byes into the semifinals, with the three and four seeds receiving a bye to the quarterfinals. The tournament will revert to the original structure. The top four seeds will receive just one bye into the quarterfinals.

## Seeds

| Seed | School | Conference record | Division |
| 1† | Ohio | 16–2 | East |
| 2† | Central Michigan | 14–4 | West |
| 3† | Ball State | 13–5 | West |
| 4† | Toledo | 12–6 | West |
| 5 | Akron | 11–7 | East |
| 6 | Eastern Michigan | 10–8 | West |
| 7 | Western Michigan | 8–10 | West |
| 8 | Buffalo | 8–10 | East |
| 9 | Bowling Green | 6–12 | East |
| 10 | Northern Illinois | 4–14 | West |
| 11 | Kent State | 3–15 | East |
| 12 | Miami (OH) | 3–15 | East |
| † – Received a Bye to quarterfinals. Overall record are as of the end of the regular season. |||||

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup$^#$ | Television |
| First round – Monday March 7 ||||
| 1 | 5:30 PM | #9 Bowling Green at #8 Buffalo | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 7:00 PM | #12 Miami (OH) at #5 Akron | |
| 3 | 7:00 PM | #10 Northern Illinois at #7 Western Michigan | ESPN3 |
| 4 | 5:00 PM | #11 Kent State at #6 Eastern Michigan | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday March 9 ||||
| 5 | Noon | #8 Buffalo vs. #1 Ohio | ESPN3 |
| 6 | 2:30 PM | #5 Akron vs. #4 Toledo | ESPN3 |
| 7 | 5:00 PM | #7 Western Michigan vs. #2 Central Michigan | ESPN3 |
| 8 | 7:30 PM | #6 Eastern Michigan vs. #3 Ball State | ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Friday March 11 ||||
| 9 | Noon | #8 Buffalo vs. #5 Akron | TWCSOH/BCSN |
| 10 | 2:30 PM | #2 Central Michigan vs. #6 Eastern Michigan | TWCSOH/BCSN |
| Championship – Saturday March 12 ||||
| 11 | 1:00 PM | #8 Buffalo vs. #2 Central Michigan | TWCSOH/BCSN |
| * Game times in ET. # Rankings denote tournament seed ||||

## Bracket

| First round Monday, March 7 | First round Monday, March 7 | First round Monday, March 7 | Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Semifinals Friday, March 11 | Championship Saturday, March 12 | Championship Saturday, March 12 | Championship Saturday, March 12 |
| | | | 2 | Central Michigan | 66 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Western Michigan | 62 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Western Michigan | 94 | 7 | Western Michigan | 62 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Northern Illinois | 52 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Northern Illinois | 52 | | | | 2 | Central Michigan | 86 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Eastern Michigan | 71 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Ball State | 53 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Eastern Michigan | 67 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Eastern Michigan | 73 | 6 | Eastern Michigan | 67 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Kent State | 60 | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Kent State | 60 | | | | | | | 8 | Buffalo | 73$^{OT}$ |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Central Michigan | 71 |
| | | | 1 | Ohio | 60 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Buffalo | 72 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Buffalo | 60 | 8 | Buffalo | 72 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Bowling Green | 44 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Bowling Green | 44 | | | | 8 | Buffalo | 88 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Akron | 87 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Toledo | 71 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Akron | 73$^{OT}$ | | | | | | |
| 5 | Akron | 66 | 5 | Akron | 73$^{OT}$ | | | | | | |
| 12 | Miami (OH) | 54 | | | | | | | | | |
First round games at campus sites of lower-numbered seeds