2021 MAC men's basketball tournament

The 2021 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the entire tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, in Cleveland, Ohio, from March 11–13, 2021.[1] For the 2021 tournament, only the top eight teams qualified. The winner of the tournament received the MAC's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament. Ohio defeated Buffalo in the final. Jason Preston of Ohio was named the tournament MVP.[2] In the NCAA tournament Ohio defeated No. 4-seeded Virginia in the First Round[3] before falling to No. 5-seeded Creighton in the Second Round.[4]

2021 MAC men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams8
SiteRocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Cleveland, Ohio
ChampionsOhio (7th title)
Winning coachJeff Boals (1st title)
MVPJason Preston (Ohio)
TelevisionCBSSN, ESPN2, ESPN+
MAC men's basketball tournaments
2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Toledo15–4 .78921–9  .700
Buffalo12–5 .70616–9  .640
Akron12–6 .66715–8  .652
Kent State12–6 .66715–8  .652
Ohio †9–5 .64317–8  .680
Bowling Green10–8 .55614–12  .538
Miami (OH)9–8 .52912–11  .522
Ball State8–9 .47110–13  .435
Western Michigan4–12 .2505–16  .238
Eastern Michigan3–11 .2146–12  .333
Central Michigan3–13 .1887–16  .304
Northern Illinois2–12 .1433–16  .158
† 2021 MAC tournament winner

Seeds

8 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.

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

Schedule
Game Time Matchup Score Television
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
1 11:00 am No. 8 Ball State vs. No. 1 Toledo 89–91OT ESPN+
2 2:05 pm No. 5 Ohio vs. No. 4 Kent State 85–63
3 4:30 pm No. 7 Miami (OH) vs. No. 2 Buffalo 63–74
4 7:00 pm No. 6 Bowling Green vs. No. 3 Akron 67–74
Semifinals – Friday, March 12 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
5 5:00 pm No. 5 Ohio vs. No. 1 Toledo 87–80 CBSSN
6 approx. 7:30 pm No. 3 Akron vs. No. 2 Buffalo 74–81OT
Championship – Saturday, March 13 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH
7 7:30 pm No. 5 Ohio vs. No. 2 Buffalo 84–69 ESPN2
Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed

Bracket
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 11, 2021
ESPN+ 		Semifinals
Friday, March 12, 2021
CBSSN 		Championship
Saturday, March 13, 2021
ESPN2
         
1 Toledo 91*
8 Ball State 89
1 Toledo 80
5 Ohio 87
4 Kent State 63
5 Ohio 85
5 Ohio 84
2 Buffalo 69
2 Buffalo 74
7 Miami (OH) 63
2 Buffalo 81*
3 Akron 74
3 Akron 74
6 Bowling Green 67

* denotes overtime period

All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Jason Preston, Ohio[5]

Player Team
Marreon Jackson Toledo
Josh Mballa Buffalo
Jeenathan Williams Buffalo
Jason Preston Ohio
Ben Vander Plas Ohio

References
  1. "2021 MAC Men's Basketball Championship". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  2. "Ohio 84, Buffalo 69". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  3. "Ohio vs. Virginia - Game Recap - March 20, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  4. "Ohio vs. Creighton - Game Recap - March 22, 2021 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  5. "Bobcats Win First MAC Championship Since 2012". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
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