The Buffalo Bulls proved to be the class of the Mid-American Conference throughout the regular season, dominating in home games and winning consistently enough on the road to out-pace the competition. Buffalo is currently slotted in to qualify for the NCAA Tournament but first has to pick up the MAC Tournament title.
Buffalo will be favored but it’s certainly not an easy road. The Bulls must hold off teams like the Toledo Rockets and the Eastern Michigan in order to come away with the championship. There is everything on the line in this one as smaller conferences rarely get more than one bid to March Madness.
MAC Tournament Schedule
Don't miss the hardwood action from the Quicken Loans Arena from Monday, March 5, 2018 through Sunday, March 10. We'll have NCAA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game of the MAC Tournament.
First Round - Monday, March 5th
No. 9 Bowling Green at No. 8 Central Michigan, 7 p.m.
No. 12 Northern Illinois at No. 5 Kent State, 7 p.m.
No. 10 Ohio at No. 7 Miami (Ohio), 7 p.m.
No. 11 Akron at No. 6 Western Michigan, 7:45 p.m.
Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 8th
No. 8 Central Michigan vs. No. 1 Buffalo, 12 p.m.
No. 5 Kent State vs. No. 4 Ball State, 2:30 p.m.
No. 7 Miami (OH) vs. No. 2 Toledo, 6:30 p.m.
No. 11 Akron vs. No. 3 Eastern Michigan, 9 p.m.
Semifinals - Friday, March 9th
TBD at 6:30 p.m.
TBD at 9 p.m.
Championship - Saturday, March 10th
TBD at 7 p.m.
Odds Analysis
Buffalo will be the favorite in this one after playing so well in the conference season. The Bulls should be solid favorites as they did well against the teams they will match up against once again.
Toledo captured the MAC West division by finishing 13-5 in conference and could be the main challenge. Eastern Michigan is the hottest team in the conference, winning six straight games coming into the tournament to move up to third place in the MAC seedings.
Teams like Ball State, Kent State, Western Michigan, Miami of Ohio and Central Michigan are longer shots and seem unlikely to pick up a tournament title.
Bubble Watch
Buffalo went 23-8 overall and 15-3 in conference during the regular season. The Bulls beefed up their non-conference schedule with some ranked teams from big conferences and while they were competitive in some games, Buffalo was unable to come away with any key wins.
Without a great resume of quality victories, the Bulls seem unlikely to be a legitimate candidate for an at-large berth so they must pick up the conference tournament championship.
Free NCAA ATS Picks
Buffalo has won three consecutive games heading into the MAC Tournament but did lose three games late in the conference season. So the Bulls aren’t infallible, but they are still the best team in the MAC. Take Buffalo to pick up the conference championship by knocking off Toledo in the finals. The Bulls have a nice route to the championship game and should have enough left in the tank to grab the win and make it to March Madness as the MAC’s lone participant.
NCAA Odds: Buffalo 78, Toledo 70 in the MAC Tournament Championship Game
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