2023 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2023 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held March 9–11, 2023. The entire tournament was played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1] Kent State defeated Toledo in the final to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.^[2] Sincere Carry was the MVP.^[3]

2023 MAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2022–23
Teams	8
Site	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, Ohio
Champions	Kent State (7th title)
Winning coach	Rob Senderoff (2nd title)
MVP	Sincere Carry (Kent State)
Television	CBSSN, ESPN+, ESPN2
MAC men's basketball tournaments ← 2022 2024 →

2022–23 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Toledo	16	–	2		.889			27	–	8		.771
Kent State †	15	–	3		.833			28	–	7		.800
Akron	13	–	5		.722			22	–	11		.667
Ball State	11	–	7		.611			20	–	12		.625
Ohio	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
Buffalo	9	–	9		.500			15	–	17		.469
Northern Illinois	9	–	9		.500			13	–	19		.406
Miami (OH)	6	–	12		.333			12	–	20		.375
Bowling Green	5	–	13		.278			11	–	20		.355
Eastern Michigan	5	–	13		.278			8	–	23		.258
Central Michigan	5	–	13		.278			10	–	21		.323
Western Michigan	4	–	14		.222			8	–	23		.258
† 2023 MAC tournament winner

Format

As with the 2021, and 2022 tournament, only the top eight teams qualified. The winner of the tournament received the MAC's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.^[4]

Venue

The 2023 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the 24th 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.^[5][6]

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.^[7]

Seed	School	Conference record	Tiebreaker
1	Toledo	16–2
2	Kent State	15–3
3	Akron	13–5
4	Ball State	11–7
5	Ohio	10–8
6	Buffalo	9–9	2–0 vs. Northern Illinois
7	Northern Illinois	9–9	0–2 vs. Buffalo
8	Miami	6–12
DNQ	Bowling Green	5–13	3–1 vs Eastern Michigan & Central Michigan
DNQ	Eastern Michigan	5–13	1–2 vs Bowling Green & Central Michigan; 1–0 vs. Central Michigan
DNQ	Central Michigan	5–13	1–2 vs Bowling Green & Eastern Michigan; 0–1 vs. Eastern Michigan
DNQ	Western Michigan	4–14

Schedule

Session	Game	Time*	Matchup	Score	Attendance	Television
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 9 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
1	1	11:00 am	No. 1 Toledo vs No. 8 Miami	91–75^[8]	3,852	ESPN+
	2	1:30 p.m.	No. 4 Ball State vs No. 5 Ohio	70–90^[9]
	3	4:00 p.m.	No. 2 Kent State vs No. 7 Northern Illinois	76–57^[10]
	4	6:30 pm	No. 3 Akron vs No. 6 Buffalo	101–77^[11]
Semifinals – Friday, March 10 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
2	5	5:00 pm	No. 1 Toledo vs No. 5 Ohio	82–75^[12]	9,295	CBSSN
	6	7:30 pm	No. 2 Kent State vs No. 3 Akron	79–73^[13]
Championship – Saturday, March 11 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
3	7	7:30 pm	No. 1 Toledo vs No. 2 Kent State	78–93^[14]	8,375	ESPN2
*Game times in ET. ()-Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Source^[15]

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9, 2023					Semifinals Friday, March 10, 2023					Championship Saturday, March 11, 2023
	1	Toledo	91
	8	Miami (OH)	75
						1	Toledo	82
						5	Ohio	75
	4	Ball State	70
	5	Ohio	90
											1	Toledo	78
											2	Kent State	93
	2	Kent State	76
	7	Northern Illinois	57
						2	Kent State	79
						3	Akron	73
	3	Akron	101
	6	Buffalo	77

All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Sincere Carry

Player	Team
Sincere Carry	Kent State
Malique Jacobs	Kent State
RayJ Dennis	Toledo
Setric Millner Jr.	Toledo
Xavier Castaneda	Akron

Source^[3]

See also

• 2023 MAC women's basketball tournament

References

1. "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
2. "MAC champs! Kent State beats Toledo". FOX 8 Cleveland. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
3. "Flash Dance: Kent State Headed To NCAA Tournament". Mid-American conference. March 11, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
4. "MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments". ABC News. May 12, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
5. "About". Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
6. "A-Z Guide". Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
7. "Tie-Breaker Procedures". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
8. "Miami 75, Toledo 91". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
9. "Ohio 90, Ball State 70". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
10. "Northern Illinois 57, Kent State State 76". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
11. "Buffalo 77, Akron 101". ESPN. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
12. "Ohio 75, Toledo 82". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
13. "Akron 73, Kent State 79". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
14. "Toledo 78, Kent State 93". ESPN. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
15. "2023 MAC Men's Basketball Championship". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved March 8, 2023.

External links