Every conference runs its tournaments a little bit differently. The West Coast Conference, for example, greatly rewards regular-season play. The top two teams get an automatic spot in the semifinals and a quadruple bye, while the bottom two teams would have to win six games in as many days to win the title. If you’re a fan of that, I promise you, you’re going to hate the MAC Conference Tournament. The bottom five teams aren’t allowed admission. There are no byes. Three straight games, three straight days, nothing but ball. So, like the MAC, no fancy padding, let’s jump right into the games.
Quarter finals
No. 1 Miami versus No. 8 Kent State
All eyes in the country are on the men’s team in Miami, and frankly, for good reason. It sits at 31-0 and is the first undefeated team in a long time on the men’s side. But its counterpart in the gym is quietly having a fantastic year. At 25-6 overall and 16-2 in conference play, the Redhawks have been cooking. Four players average double digits a game, so this offense is sure to spread it around. Kent State is a bit of a different story. At 15-15 and 9-9 in conference play, it didn’t backdoor its way in as Eastern Michigan, the No. 9 team, is 6-12, but is pretty clearly the last team in. The Flashes are 0-2 against the Redhawks this year; one by four points, the other by 19. I expect this game to be much of the same. After taking its worst loss of the year by 15 to Ohio, Miami is going to be antsy to get going again. Give me Miami in game one.
No. 4 Central Michigan versus No.5 Ohio
As the only representative from Michigan, the Chippewas end up with one of the most even matchups in the tournament against Ohio. They have 11 losses, but have not shied away from contact this year, scheduling Notre Dame, Michigan, and Kentucky. The first time these two teams played was an all-time classic. The two went punch for punch as Ohio scored 8 points in the final 22 seconds, including a buzzer-beater 3 from Bailey Tabeling to send it to overtime, where the Bobcats would win 85-83. While the Bobcats don’t have the level of contact that the Chippewas have in the non-conference, they are easily the hottest team in the MAC right now. Their last three losses were by a combined eight points, two of those losses in overtime, and the final was on the road at tied-for-first-place Ball State, 86-85. Then, they caught fire, went on the road and beat Eastern Michigan by eight and, as said before, then gave Miami its worst loss of the year, manhandling the Redhawks by 15. This heat, I think, keeps going, and we are given another all-time classic, but this one is a bit more Bobcat dominant.
No 2. Ball State versus No. 7 Bowling Green
With the exact same record inside and outside of the conference as Miami, Ball State fell victim to tiebreakers and was knocked down to second place after going 0-2 against the aforementioned. Bowling Green also fell to some tiebreakers, sitting at 9-9, the same as Toledo and Kent State. It was able to get the nod over the Flashes, but not the Rockets, and drew the Cardinals. In game one, Ball State was able to handle business well at home, taking down the other birds 82-67 behind Bree Salenbien’s career-high setting 32-point showout, a record she broke with a three from far NBA range. Despite being the two seed, Ball State sits 10 spots above Miami at 67, and BGSU sits all the way down at 189. With just two players above 10 PPG and a Ball State team that is hungry to prove it is top tw,o not two, give me the Cardinals in a blowout.
No. 3 UMass versus No. 6 Toledo
Winning the tiebreaker battle between Kent State and Bowling Green, the Rockets did not exactly get an easy matchup. UMass was the first, and for a while only, MAC team to knock down Miami off of a Megan Olbrys lay in with less than three seconds on the clock. It did take three losses to knock it down: one to Miami, one to Ball State, and one to the team it will play today. Toledo played an absolutely perfect gam,e going on the road and taking down UMa, which included a quarter-long streak of no turnovers and a spectacular performance from Patricia Anumgba, scoring 22 and stealing the ball 22 times. However, with 14 total losses, this feels more like a fluke than anything. UMass needs to win the whole thing to make the tournament, and I believe it starts here.
Semifinals
No. 1 Miami versus No. 5 Ohio
I’m going to level with y’all, this is the championship game. The best team versus the hottest, it is such a shame this has to happen in the semifinals. However, Miami remembers what happened the last time it played the Bobcats. Final game of the year and got destroyed. Expect some high-flying offense that frankly, I just do not think Ohio will be able to keep pace with. Miami also holds opponents to 58.7 PPG, and Ohio to 70.6. The defense and the size of the Redhawks are going to prove to be too much. Give me the Redhawks to the title game.
No. 2 Ball State versus No. 3 UMass
While the last game may be the best two teams right now, in my opinion, this game is going to be the best in the tournament. UMass is looking for revenge after its 18-point loss to the Cardinals in round one. But at this point in the season, I believe that UMass is going to want to prove it can run with the best in year one in the conference. Bree Salenbien versus Megan Olbrys is going to create some fireworks and a game that is going to feed families. In round one, Olbrys had just three points. That will not happen again. I believe she will be hyper-aware of every mistake she made in round one and lead UMass to an upset and a title game.
No. 1 Miami versus No. 3 UMass
Here it is, all the glory and a trip to March. As hot as UMass has been, Miami is on a revenge tour, and it gets a chance right here. Despite the astounding record, the most famous moment from its season was when the Redhawks lost to UMass by one. It was posted, reposted, shared, and shown to everyone. After a spectacular season, a bad 2.6 seconds is what defines them. No more. The Redhawk defense, rated number one in the league, takes out the engine that is Olbrys. This will put more pressure on McKayle Yahmani, who, while incredible in her own right, without the assistance of number 11, will struggle. For Miami, I believe Tamar Singer will have herself an absolute day. As the lowest scorer of the four double-digit PPG players, I believe she’ll be left rather unguarded most of the game, which will be UMass’s downfall.
Final Score: Miami 86-UMass 70