2026 MAC women's basketball tournament
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| 2026 MAC women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Rocket Arena Cleveland, Ohio |
| Champions | Miami (3 title) |
| Winning coach | Glenn Box (1 title) |
| MVP | Amber Scalia (Miami) |
| Television | ESPN+ quaterfinals and semifinals & CBSSN championship |
MAC women's basketball tournaments | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) † | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 28 | – | 7 | .800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ball State | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 26 | – | 7 | .788 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMass | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 23 | – | 7 | .767 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 18 | – | 12 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 18 | – | 14 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toledo | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 17 | – | 15 | .531 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 17 | – | 14 | .548 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kent State | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 15 | – | 16 | .484 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Michigan | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 13 | – | 16 | .448 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Michigan | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 9 | – | 20 | .310 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akron | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 7 | – | 24 | .226 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Illinois | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 7 | – | 23 | .233 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buffalo | 1 | – | 17 | .056 | 3 | – | 27 | .100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 MAC tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 MAC women's basketball tournament was the postseason basketball tournament for the 2025–26 college basketball season in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).[1] The entire tournament was played at Rocket Arena, in Cleveland, Ohio on March 11 and 13–14, 2026.[2]
Miami defeated in order Kent State, Ohio, and Toledo to win the MAC tournament title, it was their first since 2008, to advance to the 2026 NCAA tournament.[3] Amber Scalia of Miami was named the tournament MVP.[4]
As with all MAC tournaments that have been held since 2021, only the top eight teams qualified.[5] The winner of the tournament will receive the MAC's automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA tournament.[6]
Venue
The 2026 MAC tournament was at Rocket Arena for the 26th consecutive season. The venue is also the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA,[7] has a capacity for basketball of 19,432, and is located in downtown Cleveland at One Center Court.[8]
Seeds
Eight out of the thirteen MAC teams will qualified for the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference games that got played, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[9]
| Seed | School | Conference record |
Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami (OH) | 16–2 | 2–0 vs. Ball State |
| 2 | Ball State | 16–2 | 0–2 vs. Miami (OH) |
| 3 | UMass | 15–3 | |
| 4 | Central Michigan | 12–6 | |
| 5 | Ohio | 11–7 | |
| 6 | Toledo | 9–9 | 2–1 vs. Bowling Green & Kent State |
| 7 | Bowling Green | 9–9 | 2–2 vs. Toledo & Kent State |
| 8 | Kent State | 9–9 | 1–2 vs. Toledo & Bowling Green |
| DNQ | Eastern Michigan | 6–12 | |
| DNQ | Western Michigan | 5–13 | |
| DNQ | Akron | 4–14 | 1–0 vs. NIU |
| DNQ | Northern Illinois | 4–14 | 0–1 vs. Akron |
| DNQ | Buffalo | 1–17 |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time * | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 11 | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:00 am | No. 1 Miami (OH) vs. No. 8 Kent State | 65–58 | 1,379 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 30 mins after Game 1 | No. 4 Central Michigan vs. No. 5 Ohio | 88–89 | ||||
| 3 | 30 mins after Game 2 | No. 2 Ball State vs. No. 7 Bowling Green | 75–63 | ||||
| 4 | 30 mins after Game 3 | No. 3 UMass vs. No. 6 Toledo | 56–67 | ||||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 | |||||||
| 3 | 5 | 10:00 am | No. 1 Miami (OH) vs. No. 5 Ohio | 80–52 | 1,352 | ESPN+ | |
| 6 | 30 mins after Game 5 | No. 2 Ball State vs. No. 6 Toledo | 65–69 | ||||
| Final – Saturday, March 14 | |||||||
| 5 | 7 | 11:00 am | No. 1 Miami (OH) vs. No. 6 Toledo | 68–58 | 2,173 | CBSSN | |
| *Game times in EDT. Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||||
NOTE: The Mid-American Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments are run simultaneously as one event and, as a result, the sessions are numbered consecutively (1, 3 and 5 are women's; 2, 4 and 6 are men's).
Source:[10]
Bracket
| Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 11 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 13 ESPN+ | Final Saturday, March 14 CBSSN | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Miami (OH) | 65 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Kent State | 58 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Miami (OH) | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Ohio | 52 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Central Michigan | 88 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Ohio | 89 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Miami (OH) | 68 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Toledo | 58 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ball State | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Bowling Green | 63 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ball State | 65 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Toledo | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | UMass | 56 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Toledo | 67 | ||||||||||||
All-Tournament team
Tournament MVP – Amber Scalia
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Bree Salenbien | Ball State |
| Patricia Anumgba | Toledo |
| Amber Scalia | Miami |
| Amber Tretter | Miami |
| Tamer Singer | Miami |
Source:[4]