2003 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2003 MAC men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place from March 10–15 at Gund Arena in Cleveland. Its winner received the Mid-American Conference's automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA tournament. It was a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round. All MAC teams were invited to participate. Central Michigan, the MAC regular season winner, received the number one seed in the tournament. Central Michigan defeated Kent State in the final.^[1] In the NCAA tournament they defeated Creighton in the first round before losing to Duke.^[2][3]

2003 MAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2002–03
Teams	13
Site	Gund Arena Cleveland, Ohio
Champions	Central Michigan (2nd title)
Winning coach	Jay Smith (1st title)
MVP	Chris Kaman (Central Michigan)
MAC men's basketball tournaments ← 2002 2004 →

2002–03 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Kent State	12	–	6		.667			21	–	10		.677
Miami	11	–	7		.611			13	–	15		.464
Akron	9	–	9		.500			14	–	14		.500
Marshall	9	–	9		.500			14	–	15		.483
Ohio	8	–	10		.444			14	–	16		.467
Buffalo	2	–	16		.111			5	–	23		.179
West
Central Michigan†	14	–	4		.778			25	–	7		.781
Northern Illinois	11	–	7		.611			17	–	14		.548
Western Michigan	10	–	8		.556			20	–	11		.645
Eastern Michigan	8	–	10		.444			14	–	14		.500
Bowling Green	8	–	10		.444			13	–	16		.448
Ball State	8	–	10		.444			13	–	17		.433
Toledo	7	–	11		.389			14	–	15		.483
† 2003 MAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Tournament

Seeds

1. Central Michigan
2. Kent State
3. Miami
4. Northern Illinois
5. Western Michigan
6. Akron
7. Marshall
8. Ball State
9. Bowling Green
10. Eastern Michigan
11. Ohio
12. Toledo
13. Buffalo

Bracket

	First round March 10, 2003					Quarterfinals March 13, 2003					Semifinals March 14, 2003					Championship March 15, 2003
						1	Central Michigan	87
						9	Bowling Green	70
	8	Ball State	81
	9	Bowling Green	90
											1	Central Michigan	94
											4	Northern Illinois	72
	4	Northern Illinois	81
	13	Buffalo	64
						4	Northern Illinois	75
						5	Western Michigan	63
	5	Western Michigan	78
	12	Toledo	64
																1	Central Michigan	77
																2	Kent State	72
						2	Kent State	79
						7	Marshall	57
	7	Marshall	83
	10	Eastern Michigan	75
											2	Kent State	73
											11	Ohio	70
						3	Miami	55
						11	Ohio	65*
	6	Akron	77
	11	Ohio	79

* – Denotes overtime period

References

1. "Kaman, Meerman lead Chippewas to title". ESPN. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
2. "Chippewas hang on to win after Creighton rally". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
3. "Blue Devils show shades of powerful past in rout". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-05-25.