| Year: | 2022 |
| Conference: | MAC |
| Division: | I |
| Gender: | Men's |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Arena: | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse |
| City: | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Champions: | Akron |
| Titlecount: | 4th |
| Coach: | John Groce |
| Coachcount: | 3rd |
| Mvp: | Enrique Freeman |
| Mvpteam: | Akron |
| Television: | CBSSN, ESPN2, ESPN+ |
The 2022 Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) held March 10–12, 2022. The entire tournament was played at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] The tournament champion, the Akron Zips, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to UCLA.[2]
As with the 2021 tournament, only the top eight teams qualify. The winner of the tournament will receive the MAC's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA tournament.[3]
The 2022 MAC tournament is scheduled to be held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the 23rd 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.[4] [5]
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.[6]
| Seed | School | Conference record | Tiebreaker | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toledo | 17–3 | ||
| 2 | Kent State | 16–4 | ||
| 3 | Ohio | 14–6 | 1–1 vs. Kent State | |
| 4 | Akron | 14–6 | 0–2 vs. Kent State | |
| 5 | Buffalo | 13–6 | ||
| 6 | Ball State | 9–10 | ||
| 7 | Miami | 8–12 | ||
| 8 | Central Michigan | 6–12 | ||
| DNQ | Bowling Green | 6–14 | ||
| DNQ | Northern Illinois | 6–14 | ||
| DNQ | Eastern Michigan | 5–15 | ||
| DNQ | Western Michigan | 4–16 |
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 10 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | ||||
| 1 | 11:00 am | No. 8 Central Michigan vs. No. 1 Toledo | 71–72 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 1:30 pm | No. 5 Buffalo vs. No. 4 Akron | 68–70 | |
| 3 | 4:00 pm | No. 7 Miami vs. No. 2 Kent State | 75–85 | |
| 4 | 6:30 pm | No. 6 Ball State vs. No. 3 Ohio | 67–77 | |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 11 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | ||||
| 5 | 5:00 pm | No. 4 Akron vs. No. 1 Toledo | 70-62 | CBSSN |
| 6 | Approx. 7:30 pm | No. 3 Ohio vs. No. 2 Kent State | 61-67 | |
| Championship – Saturday, March 12 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | ||||
| 7 | 7:30 pm | No. 4 Akron vs. No. 2 Kent State | 75-55 | ESPN2 |
| Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seed | ||||
Tournament MVP – Enrique Freeman, Akron[9]
| Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Sears | Ohio | |
| Sincere Carry | Kent State | |
| Ali Ali | Akron | |
| Xavier Castaneda | Akron | |
| Enrique Freeman | Akron |