2025 MAC men's basketball tournament
Basketball tournament
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The 2025 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held March 13–15, 2025.[1] The entire tournament was played at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.[2] Akron defeated Bowling Green and Toledo in the first two rounds and then Miami in the final[3][4][5][6] Nate Johnson of Akron was the MVP.
| 2025 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2024–25 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Rocket Arena Cleveland, Ohio |
| Champions | Akron (6th title) |
| Winning coach | John Groce (5th title) |
| MVP | Nate Johnson (Akron) |
| Attendance | 31,312 (Total) 7,099 (Final) |
| Television | ESPN2, CBSSN, ESPN+ |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akron † | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | 28 | – | 7 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 25 | – | 9 | .735 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kent State | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 24 | – | 12 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toledo | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Michigan | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Michigan | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ball State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 14 | – | 17 | .452 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 14 | – | 17 | .452 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buffalo | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 9 | – | 22 | .290 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Illinois | 2 | – | 16 | .111 | 6 | – | 25 | .194 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2025 MAC tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format
As with all MAC tournaments since 2021, only the top eight teams qualified.[7] The winner of the tournament, Akron, received the MAC's automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA tournament.[8]
Venue
The 2025 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Arena for the 26th 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
Eight out of the twelve MAC teams qualified for the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[11]
| Seed | School | Conference record |
Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akron † | 17–1 | |
| 2 | Miami (Ohio) | 14–4 | |
| 3 | Kent State | 11–7 | |
| 4 | Toledo | 10–8 | 2–0 vs. Ohio |
| 5 | Ohio | 10–8 | 0–2 vs. Toledo |
| 6 | Western Michigan | 9–9 | 1–0 vs. Eastern Michigan |
| 7 | Eastern Michigan | 9–9 | 0–1 vs. Western Michigan |
| 8 | Bowling Green | 8–10 | |
| DNQ | Ball State | 7–11 | 1–0 vs. Kent State |
| DNQ | Central Michigan | 7–11 | 0–1 vs. Kent State |
| DNQ | Buffalo | 4–14 | |
| DNQ | Northern Illinois | 2–16 |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time * | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 13 | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 1 Akron vs. No. 8 Bowling Green | 96–67 | 8,737 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 1:30 p.m. | No. 4 Toledo vs. No. 5 Ohio | 90–85 OT | ||||
| 3 | 4:30 p.m. | No. 2 Miami (Ohio) vs. No. 7 Eastern Michigan | 81–75 | ||||
| 4 | 6:30 p.m. | No. 3 Kent State vs. No. 6 Western Michigan | 73–66 | ||||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 14 | |||||||
| 2 | 5 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 1 Akron vs. No. 4 Toledo | 100–90 | 15,476 | CBSSN | |
| 6 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 2 Miami (Ohio) vs. No. 3 Kent State | 72–64 | ||||
| Final – Saturday, March 15 | |||||||
| 3 | 7 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 1 Akron vs. No. 2 Miami (Ohio) | 76–74 | 7,099 | ESPN2 | |
| * Game times are in EDT. ()-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||||
Source[12]
Bracket
| Quarterfinals Thursday, March 13 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 14 CBSSN | Final Saturday, March 15 ESPN2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Akron | 96 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Bowling Green | 67 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Akron | 100 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Toledo | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Toledo | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Ohio | 85 OT | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Akron | 76 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Miami (Ohio) | 74 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Miami (Ohio) | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Eastern Michigan | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Miami (Ohio) | 72 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Kent State | 64 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Kent State | 73 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Western Michigan | 66 | ||||||||||||
All-Tournament team
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Kam Craft | Miami (Ohio) |
| Nate Johnson | Akron |
| Tavari Johnson | Akron |
| Peter Suder | Miami (Ohio) |
| Jalen Sullinger | Kent State |
Tournament MVP – Nate Johnson
Source[13]