MAC Tournament Opening Odds Favor Akron at +145; Ball State at +360

Updated: March 30, 2021 at 8:17 am EDT

Published: March 8, 2020

Loren Cristian Jackson, Akron — Akron's head coach John Groce, talks with Loren Cristian Jackson in the second half during an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, in Akron, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

The MAC Tournament will be held March 9 at on-campus sites and from March 12-14 at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland
Akron is the top seed after winning the MAC’s East Division title in the regular season
See the full odds and the best pick to earn the NCAA Tournament bid below

Akron was the class of the MAC in the regular season, going 14-4 in conference play, giving them two more wins than any of the other 11 teams.

Not surprisingly, the Zips are now favored to win the MAC Tournament. It also doesn’t hurt the final three rounds of the tournament will be played just 40 miles up I-77 from Akron’s campus in Cleveland.

2020 MAC Tournament Odds

Team (Seed)	Odds
Akron (1)	+145
Ball State (3)	+360
Kent State (6)	+600
Buffalo (5)	+800
Bowling Green (2)	+900
Toledo (7)	+950
Northern Illinois (4)	+1300
Ohio (8)	+2000
Eastern Michigan (11)	+4500
Central Michigan (9)	+5500
Miami, Ohio (12)	+6500
Western Michigan (10)	+7000

Odds taken March 8

The tournament begins Monday, March 9 with first-round games at on-campus sites.

Fifth-seeded Buffalo (20-11 overall, 10-6 home) hosts No 12 seed Miami, Ohio (12-19, 1-11 road) while No. 11 Eastern Michigan (16-15, 3-11 road) visits No. 6 Kent State (19-12, 13-3 home), No. 7 Toledo (16-15, 9-6 home) is home against No. 10 Western Michigan (13-18 , 3-11 road) and No. 9 Central Michigan (14-17, 2-3 road) travels to No. 8 Ohio (16-15, 11-5 home).

MAC Tournament Bracket

The last three rounds of the tourney then shift to Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse beginning with the quarterfinals Thursday, March 12.

Akron (24-7) faces the Ohio-Central Michigan winner while second-seeded Bowling Green (21-10) meets the Toledo-Western Michigan winner, No. 3 Ball State (18-13) takes on the Kent State-Eastern Michigan winner and No. 4 Northern Illinois (18-13) opposes the Buffalo-Miami winner.

The semifinals are Friday, March 13 and the championship game is Saturday, March 14.

Top Seed Zipping Along

Fitting of the top seed, Akron comes rolling into the tournament

The Zips have won three games in a row and eight of their last nine in winning the MAC East Division. Yet they are just 3-6 against the spread in that nine-game span.

Junior guard Loren Cristian Jackson, who stands just 5-foot-8, has played big for Akron all season. He is averaging 19.8 points and 4.5 assists a game, both team highs.

The @ZipsMBB are on 🔥 right out the gate. pic.twitter.com/8AFnLFdoA3

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) March 6, 2020

Senior guard Tyler Cheese has a 15.7 point scoring average and senior forward Xeyrius Williams has averages of 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds a game.

Akron also has the top adjusted offensive efficiency in the conference as it is scoring 108.4 points per 100 possessions.

BGSU Slumping, Ball State Surging

Conversely, Bowling Green lost its last three games in the regular season.

The Falcons have one of the top scorers in the league in junior forward Justin Turner, who is averaging 18.8 points a game. Senior guard Dylan Frye has a 13.3 point scoring average and is dishing out 4.0 assists a game.

Ball State won four of its last five games to tie Northern Illinois for the MAC West title and has perhaps the conference’s best all-round player in Tahjai Teague. The senior forward is averaging 14.4 points and 9.1 rebounds while leading the conference with a 27.9 defensive rebounding percentage.

Ball State has six players scoring at least seven points a game, including junior guard Ishmael Al-Amin at 13.8. The Cardinals also have enviable depth as nine players are playing at least 13 minutes a contest.

And Ball State also leads the MAC in adjusted defensive efficiency, giving up 93.9 points per 100 possessions. That figure ranks 39^th in the country.

Don’t Sleep On Toledo

Toledo is intriguing at +950.

The Rockets have had a late-season surge by winning four of five. They have an outstanding trio of junior guards and two quality senior big men.

Defense and depth are always two important ingredients in March and Ball State has both. Though the Cardinals’ record is nothing special, they are hot at the right time and look poised their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.

Pick: Ball State +360

SBD’s NCAA conference tournament coverage:

John Perrotto

Sports Writer

John Perrotto has been covering and writing about sports for various outlets for over 40 years. His work has appeared in the likes of USA TODAY, ESPN.com, SI.com, Forbes.com, The Associated Press, Baseball Digest, and more. John is based out of Beaver Falls, PA.

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