2026 MAC men's basketball tournament

2026 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2025–26
Teams8
SiteRocket Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
ChampionsAkron (7th title)
Winning coachJohn Groce (6th title)
TelevisionESPN2 Final
CBSSN Semifinals
ESPN+ Quarterfinals
2025–26 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Miami (OH) 18 – 0   1.000 32 – 1   .970
Akron † 17 – 1   .944 29 – 5   .853
Kent State 14 – 4   .778 24 – 10   .706
Toledo 11 – 7   .611 19 – 15   .559
Bowling Green 9 – 9   .500 18 – 14   .563
Ohio 9 – 9   .500 15 – 17   .469
Buffalo 7 – 11   .389 17 – 15   .531
UMass 7 – 11   .389 17 – 16   .515
Ball State 7 – 11   .389 12 – 19   .387
Central Michigan 6 – 12   .333 10 – 21   .323
Western Michigan 4 – 14   .222 10 – 21   .323
Northern Illinois 4 – 14   .222 9 – 21   .300
Eastern Michigan 4 – 14   .222 10 – 21   .323
† 2026 MAC tournament winner
As of March 18, 2026
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2026 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held March 12–14, 2026.[1] The tournament was played at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.[2] The tournament winner, Akron, received the conference's automatic invitation to the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

Top seeded Miami entered the tournament undefeated at 31–0 and they were also ranked #20 in the AP poll.[3] They suffered their first loss of the season when eighth seeded UMass upset them in the first round.[4] Second seeded Akron defeated Buffalo, Kent State, and Toledo to win their third straight MAC tournament title to advance to the 2026 NCAA tournament.[5] Tavari Johnson of Akron was named tournament MVP.[6]

Format

As with all MAC tournaments that have done since 2021, only the top eight teams qualified.[7] The winner of the tournament received the MAC's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.[8]

Venue

The 2026 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Arena for the 27th consecutive season. The venue, located in downtown Cleveland at One Center Court, is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and has a seating capacity for basketball of 19,432.[9][10]

Seeds

The top eight out of the thirteen MAC teams qualified for the tournament. Teams will be seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[11]

Seed School Conference
Record 		Tiebreaker
1 Miami (OH) 18–0
2 Akron 17–1
3 Kent State 14–4
4 Toledo 11–7
5 Bowling Green 9–9 1–0 vs. Ohio
6 Ohio 9–9 0–1 vs. Bowling Green
7 Buffalo 7–11 3–1 vs. UMass & Ball State
8 UMass 7–11 2–2 vs. Buffalo & Ball State
DNQ Ball State 7–11 1–3 vs. Buffalo & UMass
DNQ Central Michigan 6–12
DNQ Western Michigan 4–14 2–1 vs. Northern Illinois & Eastern Michigan
DNQ Northern Illinois 4–14 1–1 vs. Western Michigan & Eastern Michigan
DNQ Eastern Michigan 4–14 1–2 vs. Western Michigan & Northern Illinois

Schedule

Session Game Time * Matchup Score Attendance Television
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12
1 1 11:00 a.m. No. 1 Miami (OH) vs. No. 8 UMass 83−87 9,123 ESPN+
2 1:30 p.m. No. 4 Toledo vs. No. 5 Bowling Green 77−76
3 4:00 p.m. No. 2 Akron vs. No. 7 Buffalo 73−70
4 6:30 p.m. No. 3 Kent State vs. No. 6 Ohio 86–75
Semifinals – Friday, March 13
2 5 5:00 p.m. No. 4 Toledo vs. No. 8 UMass 77−67 10,936 CBSSN
6 7:30 p.m. No. 2 Akron vs. No. 3 Kent State 75−68
Final – Saturday, March 14
3 7 8:00 p.m. No. 2 Akron vs. No. 4 Toledo 79−76 11,072 ESPN2
* Game times are in EDT. ()-Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Source:[12]

Bracket

Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 12
ESPN+ 		Semifinals
Friday, March 13
CBSSN 		Final
Saturday, March 14
ESPN2
         
1 20 Miami (OH) 83
8 UMass 87
8 UMass 67
4 Toledo 77
4 Toledo 77
5 Bowling Green 76
4 Toledo 76
2 Akron 79
2 Akron 73
7 Buffalo 70
2 Akron 75
3 Kent State 68
3 Kent State 86
6 Ohio 75

Game summaries

Quarterfinal round

March 12
11:00 a.m. EDT
No. 1 Miami (OH) 83, No. 8 UMass 87
Scoring by half: 39–37, 44−50
Pts: 17 – Byers
Rebs: 5 – Tied (2)
Asts: 7 – Tied (2)		 Pts: 25 – Bettiol
Rebs: 8 – Tied (3)
Asts: 8 – Carbuccia
Game 1
Rocket Arena
Cleveland, OH
Referees: Anslinger, Burris, Floyd
ESPN+
March 12
1:30 p.m. EDT
No. 4 Toledo 77, No. 5 Bowling Green 76
Scoring by half: 37−38, 40−38
Pts: 23 – Blyden Jr.
Rebs: 7 – Wilson
Asts: 3 – Tied (2)		 Pts: 16 – Campbell
Rebs: 9 – Towns
Asts: 4 – Tied (2)
Game 2
Rocket Arena
Cleveland, OH
Referees: Griffith, Love. Smith
ESPN+
March 12
4:00 p.m. EDT
No. 2 Akron 73, No. 7 Buffalo 70
Scoring by half: 42–29, 31–41
Pts: 25 – Johnson
Rebs: 16 – Lyles
Asts: 3 – Tied (2)		 Pts: 24 – Sabol
Rebs: 12 – Oboh
Asts: 6 – Talton Jr.
Game 3
Rocket Arena
Cleveland, OH
Referees: Lucas, Silver, Stewart
ESPN+
March 12
6:30 p.m. EDT
No. 3 Kent State 86, No. 6 Ohio 75
Scoring by half: 40–38, 46–37
Pts: 27 – Gillespie
Rebs: 8 – Gillespie
Asts: 7 – Medley		 Pts: 24 – Hadaway
Rebs: 7 – Tied (2)
Asts: 7 – Paveletzke
Game 4
Rocket Arena
Cleveland, OH
Attendance: 9,123
Referees: McNutt, Meeks, Von Sossan

Semifinal round

March 13
5:00 p.m. EDT
No. 4 Toledo 77, No. 8 UMass 67
Scoring by half: 43–34, 34−33
Pts: 18 – Wilson
Rebs: 11 – Craig
Asts: 7 – Blyden Jr.		 Pts: 21 – Bettiol
Rebs: 6 – Tied (2)
Asts: 5 – Carbuccia
Game 1
Rocket Arena
Cleveland, OH
Referees: Barlow, Floyd, Von Sossan
CBSSN
March 13
7:30 p.m. EDT
No. 2 Akron 75, No. 3 Kent State 68
Scoring by half: 42−28, 33−40
Pts: 18 − Tied (2)
Rebs: 9 − Lyles
Asts: 3 − Johnson		 Pts: 15 − Whaley Jr.
Rebs: 14 − Gillespie
Asts: 3 − Medley
Game 2
Rocket Arena
Cleveland, OH
Attendance: 10,936
Referees: McJunkins, Smith, Stewart

Final round

March 14
8:00 p.m. EDT
No. 2 Akron 79, No. 4 Toledo 76
Scoring by half: 30–42, 49−34
Pts: 15 – Tied (2)
Rebs: 16 – Lyles
Asts: 5 – Johnson		 Pts: 21 – Blyden Jr.
Rebs: 7 – Parks
Asts: 8 – Wilson
Championship
Rocket Arena
Cleveland, OH
Attendance: 11,072
Referees: Barlow, Floyd, Smith

Awards and honors

All-Tournament team

Player Team
Leonardo Bettiol UMass
Leroy Blyden Jr. Toledo
Sean Craig Toledo
Tavares Johnson (MVP) Akron
Amani Lyles Akron

MVP denotes Most Valuable Player

Source: [13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "2025-26 MAC Championships" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  2. ^ "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  3. ^ "AP Top 25 Poll, Week 18". Associated Press. March 9, 2026. Retrieved March 9, 2026.
  4. ^ "MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments". ESPN. March 12, 2026. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  5. ^ "Akron 79, Toledo 76". ESPN. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
  6. ^ "Miami Wins 2026 MAC WAkron Completes MAC Tournament Three-Peat Behind Clutch Three from Scott". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 2026-03-14.
  7. ^ Adelson, Andrea (May 12, 2020). "MAC curtails basketball schedules, eliminates conference tournaments in other sports". Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  8. ^ "MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments". AP. May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  9. ^ "About". Rocket Arena. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  10. ^ "A-Z Guide". Rocket Arena. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "Tie-Breaker Procedures". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  12. ^ "2026 MAC Men's Basketball Championship". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  13. ^ "Akron Completes MAC Tournament Three-Peat Behind Clutch Three from Scott". Get Some MACtion. March 15, 2025. Retrieved March 16, 2026.
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