MAC Tournament Preview
MACtion features the story of College Basketball, let's get to know this great conference
MAC basketball is frequently underappreciated but this conference has a great history. They've had seasons where multiple teams crashed the tournament, Kent State went to the elite 8 in 2002, Miami to the sweet 16 in 1999, Buffalo won tournament games in 2017 and 2018 and Ohio went to the Sweet 16 in 2012 losing a heartbreaker in OT to 1 seed North Carolina that year. Miami is the story of the conference this year and has made history as the first undefeated team in the history of the MAC but make no mistake, this isn't new this conference has always punched above their weight. The tournament is at a neutral venue and follows a really simple format with 8 teams in a straight up tournament.
Favorite(s):
Miami RedHawks - No surprise, the 31-0 team is a favorite. Miami is the greatest story in the sport, a group of players all returning to play together again. They're always on the same page because they've been together so long and there's shooters everywhere. Most people don't remember but this team lost the conference tournament last year on a buzzer beater to Akron, they're not satisfied yet by any means.
Akron Zips - Akron has been completely overshadowed but this is a great tournament level team. The Zips are well coached under John Groce and are a tough physical squad defensively. They have an excellent inside out game on the offensive end, they can attack the bucket but they're actually more dangerous when shooting 3s, you really have to pick your poison with this team. They've won 3 of the last 4 MAC championships.
Sleeper(s):
Kent State Golden Flashes - Rob Senderoff’s team can never be counted out in Cleveland. They are a tremendous team on the inside led by Delrecco Gillespie, and a deep group around him. The Golden Flashes improved on defense as the year went on but they're still not as great as we’re used to seeing from this program. They rely on being physical and bullying opponents.
Toledo Rockets - Toledo unexpectedly struggled a lot early in the year but as you can expect from a Tod Kowalczyk squad they eventually began to figure it out. This is a team that is great offensively and they struggled most of the year on defense. Kowalczyk does a great job switching defenses that can force turnovers but otherwise they struggle to get stops.
Buffalo Bulls - Buffalo was really good to open the season and looked like a true MAC contender early on but the Bulls really hit some struggles in conference play especially when Daniel Freitag was injured. He's getting healthier and the Bulls could be tough as a result.
Bracket Buster Watch:
Most chaos potential in the NCAA Tournament: Miami & Akron - The MAC saw multiple teams beat power conference opponents this year so there's great spoiler potential all around. Miami and Akron are the clear favorites. Miami has already done what felt like an impossible feat, this team's shooting can take them a long ways as long as they avoid an 8 or 9 seed (those 1s are scary) and Akron has a shot to pull an upset as well.
Tournament Drought Breaker(s): Miami (2007), Toledo (1980), Bowling Green (1968) and UMass (2014) - Prior to Travis Steele’s arrival it's been a lost time for Miami basketball, but the Redhawks have improved immensely. They nearly pulled an upset in their last appearance. It's hard to believe it's been this long for Toledo and UMass both programs are always really solid and yet it's been such a long time. It's been even longer for Bowling Green who has generally struggled a lot unfortunately.
Thank you for reading! Who do you have winning? Let us know in the comments!