2018 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2018 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the post-season men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC).[2] Tournament first-round games were held on campus sites at the higher seed on March 5. The remaining rounds were held at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio between March 8–10, 2018.[3] Regular-season champion Buffalo defeated Toledo in the championship game to win the tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. There they defeated Arizona before losing to Kentucky.[4][5]

2018 MAC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2017–18
Teams12
SiteQuicken Loans Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
First round siteCampus sites
ChampionsBuffalo (3rd title)
Winning coachNate Oats (2nd title)
MVPWes Clark (Buffalo)
TelevisionCBSSN, ESPN2[1]
MAC men's basketball tournaments
← 2017
2019 →
2017–18 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Buffalo 15 3   .833 27 9   .750
Kent State 9 9   .500 17 17   .500
Miami (OH) 8 10   .444 16 18   .471
Bowling Green 7 11   .389 16 16   .500
Ohio 7 11   .389 14 17   .452
Akron 6 12   .333 14 18   .438
West
Toledo 13 5   .722 23 11   .676
Eastern Michigan 11 7   .611 22 13   .629
Ball State 10 8   .556 19 13   .594
Western Michigan 9 9   .500 17 15   .531
Central Michigan 7 11   .389 21 15   .583
Northern Illinois 6 12   .333 13 19   .406
2018 MAC tournament winner

Seeds

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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 will receive a bye to quarterfinals.

Seed School Conference
record
Division Tiebreaker
1 Buffalo 15–3 East
2 Toledo 13–5 West
3 Eastern Michigan 11–7 West
4 Ball State 10–8 West
5 Kent State 9–9 East 1–0 vs. WMU
6 Western Michigan 9–9 West 0–1 vs. KSU
7 Miami (OH) 8–10 East
8 Central Michigan 7–11 West 3–0 vs. tied teams (2–0 vs. Ohio, 1–0 vs. BGSU)
9 Bowling Green 7–11 East 1–2 vs. tied teams (1–1 vs. Ohio, 0–1 vs. CMU)
10 Ohio 7–11 East 1–3 vs. tied teams (1–1 vs. BGSU, 0–2 vs. CMU)
11 Akron 6–12 East 1–0 vs. NIU
12 Northern Illinois 6–12 West 0–1 vs. Akron

Schedule

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Game Time Matchup Score Television
First round – Monday March 5 – Campus sites
1 7:00 pm No. 9 Bowling Green at No. 8 Central Michigan 77–81OT ESPN3
2 7:00 pm No. 12 Northern Illinois at No. 5 Kent State 59–61 ESPN3
3 7:00 pm No. 10 Ohio at No. 7 Miami (OH) 55–68 ESPN3
4 7:45 pm No. 11 Akron at No. 6 Western Michigan 79–78 ESPN3
Quarterfinals – Thursday March 8 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
5 12:00 pm No. 8 Central Michigan vs. No. 1 Buffalo 74–89 BCSN
ESPN3
6 2:30 pm No. 5 Kent State vs. No. 4 Ball State 76–73
7 6:30 pm No. 7 Miami (OH) vs. No. 2 Toledo 69–71
8 9:00 pm No. 11 Akron vs. No. 3 Eastern Michigan 58–67
Semifinals – Friday March 9 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
9 6:30 pm No. 5 Kent State vs. No. 1 Buffalo 61–78 CBSSN
10 9:00 pm No. 3 Eastern Michigan vs. No. 2 Toledo 63–64
Championship – Saturday March 10 – Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
11 7:00 pm No. 2 Toledo vs. No. 1 Buffalo 66–76 ESPN2
Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed

Bracket

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First round
Monday, March 5
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 8
Semifinals
Friday, March 9
Championship
Saturday, March 10
            
1 Buffalo 89
8 Central Michigan 74
8 Central Michigan 81*
9 Bowling Green 77
1 Buffalo 78
5 Kent State 61
4 Ball State 73
5 Kent State 76
5 Kent State 61
12 Northern Illinois 59
1 Buffalo 76
2 Toledo 66
2 Toledo 71
7 Miami (OH) 69
7 Miami (OH) 68
10 Ohio 55
2 Toledo 64
3 Eastern Michigan 63
3 Eastern Michigan 67
11 Akron 58
6 Western Michigan 78
11 Akron 79

* denotes overtime period

All-Tournament Team

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Tournament MVPWes Clark, Buffalo[6]

Player Team
Marreon Jackson Toledo
Jaelan Sanford Toledo
Jeremy Harris Buffalo
Wes Clark Buffalo
Paul Jackson Eastern Michigan

References

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  1. ^ "MAC Tournament 2018: Tiebreakers abound with three games remaining". February 23, 2018.
  2. ^ "College Basketball 2018 MAC Tournament". August 3, 2023.
  3. ^ "2018 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament". MAC Sports. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  4. ^ "No Bull: Buffalo pulls off big upset, knocks off Arizona". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  5. ^ "Not happening here: Kentucky stops Buffalo cold, 95-75". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 22, 2022.
  6. ^ "Paul Jackson Named to All-MAC Tournament Team". EMU Athletics. March 10, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2022.