Possible MAC tournament scenarios heading into Saturday's game against WMU


While a win Saturday against Western Michigan can go a long way in determining Central Michigan’s seeding in next week’s Mid-American Conference tournament, another league game will help determine the team’s opponent.

Buffalo will play Bowling Green at 1 p.m. Saturday at Anderson Arena in Bowling Green, Ohio, and the winner will have great importance in CMU’s fate, especially if the Chippewas lose. The Bulls have an 8-7 conference record, while BGSU is a game-behind at 7-8.

“We are where we are,” said CMU head coach Ernie Zeigler, who declined to say who he’d rather play in the first round. “We feel good about the fact that we are at home and we have a chance to control what happens to us here in the first round. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”

Here are the possible scenarios for CMU heading into the conference tournament:

It’s already been well document: If CMU wins, it locks up the No. 8 seed and hosts a first-round game Tuesday night.

  • Should CMU win and Buffalo beats Bowling Green, the Chippewas would host BGSU in the first round.
  • If the Falcons, losers of six straight, are able to pull off the win, all three teams would be tied with an 8-8 conference record. MAC tiebreakers indicate that the team with the best combined record against the other two (Bowling Green, 2-1) would get the No. 7 seed, while CMU, 1-1 after a 69-64 win against BGSU on Feb. 12, would host Buffalo (1-2).
  • A CMU loss Saturday and things get interesting. A loss and Buffalo win still allows the Chippewas to claim the No. 8 seed, who would still host BGSU in a first round tournament game.
  • However, a CMU loss coupled with a Bowling Green win would drop the Chippewas to the ninth seed and force them to go to Buffalo for the first round. They suffered their worst conference loss of the season at Buffalo, losing 72-43 to the Bulls on Feb. 8.

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