2022 MAC men's basketball tournament

Not to be confused with 2022 MAAC men's basketball tournament or 2022 MEAC men's basketball tournament.

2022 MAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2021–22
Teams	8
Site	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, Ohio
Champions	Akron (4th title)
Winning coach	John Groce (3rd title)
MVP	Enrique Freeman (Akron)
Television	CBSSN, ESPN2, ESPN+
MAC men's basketball tournaments ←  2021 2023  →

2021–22 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Toledo	17	–	3		.850			26	–	8		.765
Kent State	16	–	4		.800			23	–	11		.676
Ohio	14	–	6		.700			25	–	10		.714
Akron †	14	–	6		.700			24	–	10		.706
Buffalo	13	–	6		.684			19	–	11		.633
Ball State	9	–	10		.474			14	–	17		.452
Miami (OH)	8	–	12		.400			14	–	18		.438
Central Michigan	6	–	12		.333			7	–	23		.233
Bowling Green	6	–	14		.300			13	–	18		.419
Northern Illinois	6	–	14		.300			9	–	21		.300
Eastern Michigan	5	–	15		.250			10	–	21		.323
Western Michigan	4	–	16		.200			8	–	23		.258
† 2022 MAC tournament winner

The 2022 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held March 10–12, 2022. The entire tournament was played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio. ^[1] The tournament champion, the Akron Zips, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to UCLA. ^[2]

Format

As with the 2021 tournament, only the top eight teams qualify. The winner of the tournament will receive the MAC's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA tournament. ^[3]

Venue

The 2022 MAC tournament is scheduled to be held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the 23rd 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. ^{[4] [5]}

Seeds

Eight out of the 12 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. ^[6]

Seed	School	Conference record	Tiebreaker
1	Toledo	17–3
2	Kent State	16–4
3	Ohio	14–6	1–1 vs. Kent State
4	Akron	14–6	0–2 vs. Kent State
5	Buffalo	13–6
6	Ball State	9–10
7	Miami	8–12
8	Central Michigan	6–12
DNQ	Bowling Green	6–14
DNQ	Northern Illinois	6–14
DNQ	Eastern Michigan	5–15
DNQ	Western Michigan	4–16

Schedule

^[7]

Game	Time	Matchup	Score	Television
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 10 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
1	11:00 am	No. 8 Central Michigan vs. No. 1 Toledo	71–72	ESPN+
2	1:30 pm	No. 5 Buffalo vs. No. 4 Akron	68–70
3	4:00 pm	No. 7 Miami vs. No. 2 Kent State	75–85
4	6:30 pm	No. 6 Ball State vs. No. 3 Ohio	67–77
Semifinals – Friday, March 11 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
5	5:00 pm	No. 4 Akron vs. No. 1 Toledo	70-62	CBSSN
6	Approx. 7:30 pm	No. 3 Ohio vs. No. 2 Kent State	61-67
Championship – Saturday, March 12 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
7	7:30 pm	No. 4 Akron vs. No. 2 Kent State	75-55	ESPN2
Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed

* denotes overtime period

Bracket

^{[7] [8]}

	Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10, 2022 ESPN+					Semifinals Friday, March 11, 2022 CBSSN					Championship Saturday, March 12, 2022 ESPN2
	1	Toledo	72
	8	Central Michigan	71
						1	Toledo	62
						4	Akron	70
	4	Akron	70
	5	Buffalo	68
											4	Akron	75
											2	Kent State	55
	2	Kent State	85
	7	Miami (OH)	75
						2	Kent State	67
						3	Ohio	61
	3	Ohio	77
	6	Ball State	67

All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Enrique Freeman, Akron ^[9]

Player	Team
Mark Sears	Ohio
Sincere Carry	Kent State
Ali Ali	Akron
Xavier Castaneda	Akron
Enrique Freeman	Akron

See also

• 2022 MAC women's basketball tournament

References

1. "2022 MAC Men's Basketball Championship". Mid-American Conference . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
2. "UCLA 57, Akron 53". ESPN. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
3. "MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments". ABC News. May 12, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
4. "About". Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
5. "A-Z Guide". Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
6. "Tie-Breaker Procedures". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
7. "2022 MAC Men's Basketball Championship". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
8. "2022 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
9. "Akron Takes Home MAC Tournament Title". Mid-American Conference. March 12, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2022.