MAC Announces 2026 Men’s Basketball Tournament Pairings

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Mid-American Conference has announced official pairings for the 2026 MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament at Rocket Arena. Tournament MACtion gets underway on Thursday, March 12th with Game One set to tip-off at 11AM ET on ESPN+.

The undefeated, regular-season-champion Miami RedHawks hold the No. 1 seed and will battle UMass to begin this year’s tournament. Game two will feature the No. 4 Toledo Rockets and No. 5 Bowling Green Falcons for a rivalry rubber match after splitting the regular season series. In the day’s third contest, the No. 2 Akron Zips will square off against the No. 7 Buffalo Bulls. The opening day will then close with the No. 3 Kent State Golden Flashes taking on the No. 6 Ohio Bobcats.

The full tournament schedule can be found below:

2026 Mid-American Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament

March 12-14 | Cleveland, Ohio | Rocket Arena

Thursday, March 12th, 2026 – Quarterfinals

Game 1: No. 1 Miami vs. No. 8 UMass, 11:00AM ET (ESPN+) 

Game 2: No. 4 Toledo vs. No. 5 Bowling Green, Time TBA (ESPN+)* 

Game 3: No. 2 Akron vs. No. 7 Buffalo, Time TBA (ESPN+)* 

Game 4: No. 3 Kent State vs. No. 6 Ohio, Time TBA (ESPN+)* 

Friday, March 13th, 2026 – Semifinals

Game 5: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 5 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)

Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, approx. 7:30 PM ET (CBS Sports Network)*

Saturday, March 14th, 2026 – MAC Championship Game

Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 8 PM ET (ESPN2)

 

*30 minutes following the completion of the first game of the session.