The upcoming MAC (Mid-American Conference) Basketball Tournament is just around the corner as teams meet up in Cleveland starting on Wednesday March 11th. The women’s side of the tourney starts with the quarterfinal games as the best eight teams in the league are set to battle. This year’s group of eight teams has a bit of a different look then the last several years of the tourney.
The top four seeds at the moment are Miami (Ohio), Ball State, Massachusetts, and Central Michigan. Ball State are the reigning champs from a year ago and have been the most consistent program in the MAC for the past decade. The other three teams in the top four are relatively new to the top of the league rankings.
Central Michigan had been a powerhouse in the league as recently as the 2020-21 season but had fallen on hard times in recent seasons. They went a combined 16-70 over the next three seasons. They started coming out of their hibernation as they went 14-17 a year ago and now are 17-11 and have a 11-6 record in league play.
Massachusetts is brand new to the league after having been a member of the Atlantic 10 conference. They’ve certainly asserted themselves as one of the best in the MAC early and often. They have a 13-3 in league play and an overall 21-6 record.
The No. 1 seed is Miami, and they have continued their rise to the top after having a respectable 2024-25 season where they got to the MAC semis and finished with a 19-13 record. This season they are currently 15-1 in league play and 24-5 overall. As recently as the 2023-24 season, Miami was at the bottom of the MAC league standings with a 9-20 record.
MAC play continues among the top seeds through next Saturday before the teams travel to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse to try and secure a MAC Championship.
Rounding out the top eight teams going to Cleveland include Ohio, Bowling Green, Toledo, and Kent State. Both Toledo and Kent State have been regulars as top four seeds in recent tournaments. As far back as the 2022-23 season ( three tournaments) both these teams had been there. Will that experience help these teams and put pressure on some of these new teams at the top of the tourney this year?
The MAC tourney has always had its share of surprises, and we shouldn’t expect much different this time around. One of the best teams over the last decade in the league was Buffalo but they have fallen on hard times having only won one game in league play this season.
So how things will shake out over the next week and then at the tournament will be interesting to follow. Ball State as mentioned earlier has been the most consistent team over the last decade along with having the most experienced coach in Brady Sallee (13 seasons). They won the tourney a year ago. They’ve retooled their lineup this year with many new faces but are still winning.
Miami has led the standings most of the season, so we’ll see how they handle the pressure of potentially being the No.1 seed.
The new team in the league, Massachusetts, has been nothing short of impressive. They finished with a 17-15 record in the Atlantic 10 a year ago and had a terrible 5-27 record back in the 2023-24 season. They’ve lost to both Miami and Ball State this season so they will have their work cut out for them as they enter the tournament.
We’ll have more information on the MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament next weekend as we look more at the matchups set for Cleveland.
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