2016 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2016 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was a post-season basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) 2015–16 college basketball season. Tournament first-round games were held on campus sites at the higher seed on March 7. The remaining rounds were held at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland between March 10–12. Buffalo won the tournament and received the conference's automatic bid into the 2016 NCAA tournament where they lost to Miami (FL) in the first round.^[1]

2016 MAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2015–16
Teams	12
Site	Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, Ohio
First round site	Campus sites
Champions	Buffalo (2nd title)
Winning coach	Nate Oats (1st title)
MVP	Willie Conner (Buffalo)
Television	TWCSC (Ohio), ESPN2
MAC men's basketball tournaments ← 2015 2017 →

2015–16 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Akron	13	–	5		.722			26	–	9		.743
Ohio	11	–	7		.611			23	–	12		.657
Kent State	10	–	8		.556			19	–	13		.594
Buffalo †	10	–	8		.556			20	–	15		.571
Miami (OH)	6	–	12		.333			13	–	20		.394
Bowling Green	5	–	13		.278			16	–	18		.471
West
Ball State	10	–	8		.556			21	–	14		.600
Central Michigan	10	–	8		.556			17	–	16		.515
Northern Illinois	9	–	9		.500			21	–	13		.618
Eastern Michigan	9	–	9		.500			18	–	15		.545
Toledo	8	–	10		.444			17	–	15		.531
Western Michigan	7	–	11		.389			13	–	19		.406
† 2016 MAC tournament winner

Format

In 2016, the tournament reverted to its original structure with the top four seeds receiving just one bye into the quarterfinals. From 2012 to 2015, the top two seeds received byes into the semifinals while the third and fourth seeds received a bye to the quarterfinals.^[2]

Seeds

Seed	School	Conference record	Division	Tiebreaker ^[3]
1 †	Akron	13–5	East
2 †	Ohio	11–7	East
3 †	Buffalo	10–8	East	No. 1: 4–0 vs. tied teams (2–0 vs. KSU, 1–0 vs. BSU, 1–0 vs. CMU)
4 †	Central Michigan	10–8	West	No. 1: 2–2 vs. tied teams (0–1 vs. Buffalo, 1–0 vs. KSU, 1–1 vs. BSU) No. 2: 2–1 vs. tied teams (1–0 vs. KSU, 1–1 vs. BSU)
5	Kent State	10–8	East	No. 1: 1–3 vs. tied teams (0–2 vs. Buffalo, 1–0 vs. BSU, 0–1 vs. CMU) No. 2: 1–1 vs. tied teams (1–0 vs. BSU, 0–1 vs. CMU) No. 3: 1–0 vs. BSU
6	Ball State	10–8	West	No. 1: 1–3 vs. tied teams (0–1 vs. Buffalo, 0–1 vs. Kent State, 1–1 vs. CMU) No. 2: 1–2 vs. tied teams (0–1 vs. KSU, 1–1 vs. CMU) No. 3: 0–1 vs. KSU
7	Northern Illinois	9–9	West	No. 1: 1–1 vs. EMU No. 2: 1–1 vs. No. 1 Akron
8	Eastern Michigan	9–9	West	No. 1: 1–1 vs. NIU No. 2: 0–1 vs. No. 1 Akron
9	Toledo	8–10	West
10	Western Michigan	7–11	West
11	Miami (OH)	6–12	East
12	Bowling Green	5–13	East
† Received a bye to quarterfinals

Schedule

^[4]

Game	Time	Matchup^#	Television
First round – Monday March 7
1	7:00 pm	No. 12 Bowling Green 70 at No. 5 Kent State 69	ESPN3
2	7:00 pm	No. 11 Miami (OH) 49 at No. 6 Ball State 47	ESPN3
3	7:30 pm	No. 9 Toledo 60 at No. 8 Eastern Michigan 69	ESPN3
4	8:00 pm	No. 10 Western Michigan 50 at No. 7 Northern Illinois 56	ESPN3
Quarterfinals – Thursday March 10
5	Noon	No. 8 Eastern Michigan 63 vs. No. 1 Akron 65	TWC SportsChannel OH/BCSN ESPN3
6	2:30 pm	No. 12 Bowling Green 62 vs. No. 4 Central Michigan 59
7	6:30 pm	No. 7 Northern Illinois 62 vs. No. 2 Ohio 79
8	9:00 pm	No. 11 Miami (OH) 81 vs. No. 3 Buffalo 94
Semifinals – Friday March 11
9	6:30 pm	No. 12 Bowling Green 66 vs. No. 1 Akron 80	TWC SportsChannel OH/BCSN ESPN3
10	9:00 pm	No. 3 Buffalo 88 vs. No. 2 Ohio 74
Championship – Saturday March 12
11	7:30 pm	No. 3 Buffalo 64 vs. No. 1 Akron 61	ESPN2
* Game times in ET. # Rankings denote tournament seed

Bracket

^[5]

	First round Monday, March 7					Quarterfinals Thursday, March 10					Semifinals Friday, March 11					Championship Saturday, March 12
						2	Ohio	79
						7	Northern Illinois	62
	7	Northern Illinois	56
	10	Western Michigan	50
											2	Ohio	74
											3	Buffalo	88
						3	Buffalo	94
						11	Miami (OH)	81
	6	Ball State	47
	11	Miami (OH)	49
																3	Buffalo	64
																1	Akron	61
						1	Akron	65
						8	Eastern Michigan	63
	8	Eastern Michigan	69
	9	Toledo	60
											1	Akron	80
											12	Bowling Green	66
						4	Central Michigan	59
						12	Bowling Green	62
	5	Kent State	69
	12	Bowling Green	70

First round games at campus sites of lower-numbered seeds

All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Willie Conner, Buffalo^[6]

Player	Team
Isaiah Johnson	Akron
Antonio Campbell	Ohio
Lamonte Bearden	Buffalo
Willie Conner	Buffalo
C.J. Massinburg	Buffalo

See also

• 2016 MAC women's basketball tournament

References

1. "Miami fends off late Buffalo charge for first-round win". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-05-22.
2. "MAC basketball tournament going back to traditional format in 2016". cleveland.com. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
3. "Tie-Breaker Procedures".
4. "2016 MAC Mens Basketball Tournament Schedule". MAC-Sports. Sidearm Sports. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
5. "2016 MAC Mens Basketball Bracket" (PDF). MAC-Sports. SideArmSports. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
6. "ZIPS FALL TO BUFFALO ON FINAL SHOT, 64-61". Akron Athletics. Retrieved June 5, 2022.

External links

• 2016 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament