Here is a breakdown for the Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament pairings IF THE TOURNAMENT STARTED TODAY ...
FIRST ROUND
March 11 - Campus Sites
Game 1: #9 Central Michigan (4-11) at #8 Bowling Green (6-9), 7 p.m.
Game 2: #10 Northern Illinois (3-12) at #7 Ball State (7-8)
Game 3: #11 Miami (3-12) at #6 Buffalo (8-7)
SECOND ROUND
March 13 - Quicken Loans Arena
Game 4: #5 Eastern Michigan (8-7) vs. Game 1 winner, 6:30 PM (STO)
Game 5: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 9 PM (STO)
THIRD ROUND
March 14 - Quicken Loans Arena
Game 6: #4 Kent State (8-7) vs. Game 4 winner, 6:30 PM (STO)
Game 7: #3 Western Michigan (9-6) vs. Game 5 winner, 9 PM (STO)
SEMIFINALS
March 15 - Quicken Loans Arena
Game 8: #1 Akron (14-1) vs. Game 6 winner, 6:30 PM (STO)
Game 9: #2 Ohio (13-2) vs. Game 7 winner, 9 PM (STO)
CHAMPIONSHIP
March 16 - Quicken Loans Arena
Semifinal winners, 6:30 PM (ESPN2)
Here's a how the MAC standings would look, the remaining games for each team, and the best- and worst-case scenarios for each team (in other words, the best and worst finishes possible for each team) as well as the “realistic” finish for each team (“Real” column). ...
|
Seed |
Team |
MAC |
MAC Games Remaining |
Best |
Real |
Worst |
|
No. 1 |
Akron |
14-1 |
KSU |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
No. 2 |
Ohio |
13-2 |
MU |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
No. 3 |
WMU |
9-6 |
CMU |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
No. 4 |
KSU |
8-7 |
@UA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|
No. 5 |
EMU |
7-8 |
UT |
5 |
5-6 |
7 |
|
No. 6 |
Buffalo |
7-8 |
@BG |
5 |
5-6 |
8 |
|
No. 7 |
BSU |
7-8 |
NIU |
5 |
5-7 |
8 |
|
No. 8 |
BG |
6-9 |
UB |
5 |
8 |
8 |
|
No. 9 |
CMU |
4-11 |
@WMU |
9 |
9 |
11 |
|
No. 10 |
NIU |
3-12 |
@BSU |
9 |
10 |
11 |
|
No. 11 |
Miami |
3-12 |
@OU |
9 |
11 |
11 |
Here is how I broke the ties at this point …
- Third seed: If Western Michigan and Kent State finish tied, WMU wins the tiebreaker with a head-to-head victory.
- Fourth seed: Kent State wins potential tiebreakers with Ball State, Buffalo and Ball State with head-to-head victories. In any combination of ties, KSU remains unbeaten and wins the tiebreaker as well.
- Fifth through seventh seeds: Eastern Michigan wins the tiebreaker at this point because of its 2-1 record compared to 1-1 for Buffalo and 1-2 for Ball State. Buffalo is next because of its head-to-head win over Ball State.
- Ninth through 11th seeds: Another three-way tie with winning percentage breaking the tie. Northern Illinois is 2-1 (66.7 percent), followed by Miami at 1-1 (50 percent) and Central Michigan at 1-2 (33.3 percent).
Here is how the MAC breaks ties …
1. Between TWO teams:
A. Head-to-head competition
B. Division Record (10 games)^
C. Winning percentage* vs. ranked conference teams (top to bottom, regardless of division, vs.
common opponents regardless of the number of times played)
D. Coin flip
^ - For the purpose of determining the Division champion only
* - Winning percentage is used instead of record because of situations where teams do not play each other the same number of times. Therefore, a team that is 1-0 (1.000) would win the tiebreaker over a team that is 2-1 (.667).
2. For MULTIPLE (3 or more) team ties:
E. Total won-lost record of games played among the tied teams
F. Two (2)-team tie-breaker procedure goes into effect (refer to A)
NOTE: Once a three-team tie has been reduced to two teams, the two-team tiebreaker will go into effect
Here’s a breakdown of the seedings…
- First seed. Akron has clinched the top seed.
- Second seed. Ohio has clinched the second seed.
- Third seed.Western Michigan has clinched the third seed.
- Fourth seed.Kent State has clinched the fourth seed.
- Fifth seed. Some actual work, finally … Eastern Michigan would almost certainly be the fifth seed if it wins against Toledo. The only way the Eagles would not be fifth after a win is if Ball State wins and Buffalo loses; in that scenario Ball State is the fifth seed (the two teams split head-to-head, but BSU swept Western Michigan while EMU was 1-1 against the Broncos). Ball State also would be the fifth seed with a win against Northern Illinois AND losses by EMU and Buffalo. … Buffalo also would be the fifth seed if it won at Bowling Green AND both EMU and BSU lost. Buffalo would be fifth if it won AND only EMU loss (regardless of BSU result) because UB loses head-to-head with the Eagles but wins head-to-head with the Cardinals. … Believe it or not, Bowling Green also could claim the fifth seed, but the Falcons need help. BG needs to beat Buffalo AND have BOTH Eastern Michigan AND Ball State lose. In that scenario there would be a four-way tie for fifth which BG would claim with a 3-1 record against the other teams (BSU is 1-3, UB is 2-2, EMU is 2-2).
- Sixth seed. Buffalo would be the sixth seed in a number of different scenarios. If the Bulls win AND Eastern Michigan wins, the Bulls would be sixth. UB also could be sixth despite a loss if Ball State also loses. … Eastern Michigan would be the sixth seed if it wins ONLY if Ball State wins AND Buffalo loses. With a loss, EMU would be the sixth seed ONLY if Bowling Green beat Buffalo. … Ball State must win AND Eastern Michigan must lose AND Buffalo must win for the Cardinals to be the sixth seed. … Bowling Green would be the sixth seed ONLY if it wins AND Eastern Michigan loses AND Ball State wins.
- Seventh seed. Eastern Michigan would be the seventh seed ONLY if it loses AND Buffalo wins. … To be the seventh seed, Buffalo must lose AND Ball State must win. … To be the seventh seed, Ball State has several opportunities. The Cardinals will be the seventh seed if they win AND both Eastern Michigan AND Buffalo win. If Ball State loses, the Cards will be the seventh seed IF Eastern Michigan wins. … Bowling Green will be the seventh seed if it wins AND Eastern Michigan wins AND Ball State loses.
- Eighth seed. Bowling Green will be the eighth seed if it loses to Buffalo Friday. If the Falcons win AND Ball State wins AND Eastern Michigan wins, BG will be the eighth seed. … These other scenarios obviously require a BG win. Ball State will be the eighth seed if BG wins AND the Cards lose. … Buffalo would be the eighth seed if BG wins AND Ball State wins.
- Ninth seed. Central Michigan would clinch the ninth seed with a win at Western Michigan. The Chippewas also would be the ninth seed if both Northern Illinois AND Miami lose. … Northern Illinois would be the ninth seed if Central Michigan loses AND the Huskies win. … Miami would be the ninth seed in Central Michigan loses AND Northern Illinois loses AND the RedHawks win.
- Tenth seed. Central Michigan will be the tenth seed if it loses AND Northern Illinois wins AND Miami loses. … Northern Illinois will be the tenth seed if Central Michigan wins if the Huskies remain tied with Miami – if both teams win or both teams lose (NIU wins the tiebreaker with a head-to-head win over the RedHawks). NIU also will be tenth if it wins and Miami loses (for obvious record reasons)… Miami will the tenth seed if it wins UNLESS both Central Michigan AND Northern Illinois lose. The RedHawks also would be tenth if they win AND Northern Illinois loses.
- Eleventh seed. Miami would be the 11th seed if the RedHawks finish tied with Northern Illinois (and not tied with Central Michigan). A loss would guarantee 11th, as would a Northern Illinois win UNLESS Central Michigan lost. … Northern Illinois would be the 11th seed if it loses AND Central Michigan wins AND Miami wins… The only way Central Michigan would be the 11th seed is if the Chippewas lost AND Northern Illinois won AND Miami won.
If you see anything amiss (or want to add anything, click on the "comment" link below and let me know!
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