MAC Tournament 2015: Bracket, schedule and scores

Another great year of #MACTION reaches its climax with the tournament this week.

The MAC has earned a reputation in football as one of the wackiest, most unpredictable conferences in the nation. That reputation has carried over to the basketball court, in which the top four positions were undecided until the final day of regular season action. With the conference tournament now upon us, no less than four of five teams have a reasonable shot at grabbing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Central Michigan claimed the No. 1 seed and a bye into the semifinals, but it's not without its flaws. The Chippewas suffered losses to the likes of Bradley and Ball State, all but taking them out of the at-large picture. Buffalo is in a similar state -- despite a glowing RPI number, the Bulls don't have any non-conference wins of note and may have to settle for the NIT if they don't win this tournament.

Squads like Bowling Green, Toledo, Kent State have all dazzled and baffled in equal measure this season, but any of them could make a run if they find their form at the right time. That's part of what makes the MAC tournament so great -- it truly does feel like anything can happen.

The format

True to its nature, the MAC has one of the most unusual tournament formats in the country. The top two seeds get a bye straight to the semifinal round, while seeds No. 3 and 4 get double-byes to the quarterfinals.

Everyone else more or less plays a standard eight-team tournament in the first two rounds, with the two winning teams moving on to face the quarterfinal bye squads. The two winners of that round then get to face the top two seeds in the semis. In other words, teams seeded in the first round have to win four games just to make the final round. This is why grabbing a top-four seed is so crucial in the MAC -- the teams in those spots get nearly an entire week of rest.

Most of the tournament will be aired on Time Warner Cable's regional sports network in the Ohio region, with the final round televised on ESPN2.

The teams

1. Central Michigan Chippewas


2. Buffalo Bulls


3. Kent State Golden Flashes


4. Toledo Rockets


5. Bowling Green Falcons


6. Western Michigan Broncos


7. Akron Zips


8. Eastern Michigan Eagles


9. Miami-Ohio RedHawks


10. Northern Illinois Huskies


11. Ohio Bobcats


12. Ball State Cardinals

Bracket

The MAC has an official downloadable bracket available here.

Schedule and results (all times Eastern)

Monday, March 9 (First round)

Game 1: No. 5 Bowling Green vs. No. 12 Ball State

Game 2: No. 8 Eastern Michigan vs. No. 9 Miami-Ohio

Game 3: No. 6 Western Michigan vs. No. 11 Ohio

Game 4: No. 7 Akron vs. No. 10 Northern Illinois

Wednesday, March 11 (Second round)

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 6:30 p.m., TWCSC Ohio

Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 9 p.m., TWCSC Ohio

Thursday, March 12 (Quarterfinals)

Game 7: No. 4 Toledo vs. Game 5 winner, 6:30 p.m., TWCSC Ohio

Game 8: No. 3 Kent State vs. Game 6 winner, 9 p.m., TWCSC Ohio

Friday, March 13 (Semifinals)

Game 9: No. 1 Central Michigan vs. Game 7 winner, 6:30 p.m., TWCSC Ohio

Game 10: No. 2 Buffalo vs. Game 8 winner, 9 p.m., TWCSC Ohio

Saturday, March 14 (Championship)

Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2

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