2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

The 2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season will be the season for Mid-American Conference men's basketball teams. It will begin with practices in October 2024, followed by the start of the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play will begin in January 2024 and conclude in March 2024. The 2025 MAC tournament will be held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio for the 26th consecutive season.^[1] This will be the conference's last season with 12 members as it will see its first change in membership since 2005 with the addition of UMass^[2]

2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	12
Regular season
Tournament

2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Buffalo	0	–	0		–			1	–	0		1.000
Central Michigan	0	–	0		–			1	–	0		1.000
Kent State	0	–	0		–			1	–	0		1.000
Miami (OH)	0	–	0		–			1	–	0		1.000
Akron	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
Ball State	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
Bowling Green	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
Eastern Michigan	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
Northern Illinois	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
Ohio	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
Toledo	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
Western Michigan	0	–	0		–			0	–	1		.000
† 2025 MAC tournament winner As of November 4, 2024

Head coaches

Coaching changes

There have been no coaching changes since the end of the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.

Coaches

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	School record	MAC record	MAC titles	MAC Tournament titles	NCAA tournaments	NCAA Final Fours	NCAA Championships
Akron	John Groce	Illinois	8	220–212 (.509)	140–80 (.636)	80–48 (.625)	1	2	2	0	0
Ball State	Michael Lewis	UCLA (Asst.)	3	35–28 (.556)	35–28 (.556)	18–18 (.500)	0	0	0	0	0
Bowling Green	Todd Simon	Southern Utah	2	147–128 (.535)	20–14 (.588)	10–8 (.556)	0	0	0	0	0
Buffalo	George Halcovage	Villanova (Assoc. HC)	2	4–27 (.129)	4–27 (.129)	2–16 (.111)	0	0	0	0	0
Central Michigan	Tony Barbee	Kentucky (Asst.)	4	166–185 (.473)	35–58 (.376)	23–31 (.426)	0	0	0	0	0
Eastern Michigan	Stan Heath	Lakeland Magic	4	240–269 (.472)	31–62 (.333)	16–40 (.286)	0	0	0	0	0
Kent State	Rob Senderoff	Kent State (Asst.)	14	264–164 (.617)	264–164 (.617)	138–94 (.595)	1	2	2	0	0
Miami	Travis Steele	Xavier	3	97–87 (.527)	27–37 (.422)	15–21 (.417)	0	0	0	0	0
Northern Illinois	Rashon Burno	Arizona State (Asst.)	4	33–60 (.355)	33–60 (.355)	20–36 (.357)	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio	Jeff Boals	Stony Brook	6	152–102 (.598)	98–60 (.620)	54–35 (.607)	0	1	1	0	0
Toledo	Tod Kowalczyk	Green Bay	15	414–293 (.586)	278–181 (.606)	156–93 (.627)	5	0	0	0	0
Western Michigan	Dwayne Stephens	Michigan State (Assoc. HC)	3	20–43 (.317)	20–43 (.317)	13–23 (.361)	0	0	0	0	0

Notes:

• Appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
• Years at school includes 2023–24 season.
• MAC records are from time at current school only.
• All records are through the beginning of the season.

Source - ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]}

Preseason

The MAC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tip-Off will be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Each team will have their head coach and a student athlete from both the men's and women's basketball team for interviews.^[15]

MAC Men's Basketball Preview Coaches & Student-Athletes

• Akron: Head Coach John Groce & Nate Johnson (R-Junior, Guard)
• Ball State: Head Coach Michael Lewis & Payton Sparks (Senior, Center)
• Bowling Green: Head Coach Todd Simon & Trey Thomas (Senior, Guard)
• Buffalo: Head Coach George Halcovage III & Noah Batchelor (Junior, Forward)
• Central Michigan: Head Coach Tony Barbee & Anthony Pritchard (Senior, Guard)
• Eastern Michigan: Head Coach Stan Heath & Jalin Billingsley (Senior, Forward)
• Kent State: Head Coach Rob Senderoff & VonCameron Davis (R-Senior, Forward)
• Miami: Head Coach Travis Steele & Eian Elmer (Sophomore, Wing)
• Northern Illinois: Head Coach Rashon Burno & Quentin Jones (Sophomore, Guard)
• Ohio: Head Coach Jeff Boals & AJ Clayton (Senior, Forward)
• Toledo: Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk & Javan Simmons (Sophomore, Forward)
• Western Michigan: Head Coach Dwayne Stephens & JaVaughn Hannah (Junior, Guard)

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll

Men's Basketball Preseason Poll

Place	Team	Points	First place votes
1.	Ohio	121	11
2.	Akron	106	1
3.	Kent State	99	--
4.	Toledo	95	--
5.	Bowling Green	73	--
6.	Miami	72	--
7.	Ball State	67	--
8.	Central Michigan	55	--
9.	Eastern Michigan	36	--
10.	Western Michigan	33	--
11.	Northern Illinois	24	--
12.	Buffalo	11	--

MAC Tournament Champions:Ohio (8), Kent State (3), Toledo (1)

Source^[16]

MAC Preseason All-Conference

Honor	Recipient
Preseason All-MAC First Team	Peyton Sparks, Center, Akron, Sr.
	Anthony Pritchard, Guard, Central Michigan, Sr.
	VonCameron Davis, Forward, Kent State, R-Sr.
	AJ Clayton, Forward, Ohio, Sr.
	Javon Simmons, Forward, Toledo, Jo.
Preseason All-MAC Second Team	Isaiah Gray, Guard, Akron, Sr.
	Jalen Sullinger, Guard, Kent State, Sr.
	Shereef Mitchell, Guard, Ohio, Grad.
	AJ Brown, Guard, Ohio, R-So..
	Isaiah Adams, Guard, Toledo, 5th

Source^[16]

Regular season

Rankings

Main article: 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

		Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Wk 19	Final
Akron	AP
	C
Ball State	AP
	C
Bowling Green	AP
	C
Buffalo	AP
	C
Central Michigan	AP
	C
Eastern Michigan	AP
	C
Kent State	AP
	C
Miami	AP
	C
Northern Illinois	AP
	C
Ohio	AP
	C
Toledo	AP
	C
Western Michigan	AP
	C

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		No change in ranking from previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

See also

2024–25 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season

References

1. Zarrella, Tony (March 12, 2021). "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
2. Withers, Tom (February 27, 2024). "UMass will join Mid-American Conference as a full sports member in 2025, MAC commissioner says". APNews. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
3. "John Groce". Sports Reference.
4. "Michael Lewis". Sports Reference.
5. "Todd Simon". Sports Reference.
6. "George Halcovage". Sports Reference.
7. "Tony Barbee". Sports Reference.
8. "Stan Heath". Sports Reference.
9. "Rob Senderoff". Sports Reference.
10. "Travis Steele". Sports Reference.
11. "Rashon Burno". Sports Reference.
12. "Jeff Boals". Sports Reference.
13. "Tod Kowalczyk". Sports Reference.
14. "Dwayne Stephens". Sports Reference.
15. "2024-25 MAC Men's & Women's Basketball Tip-Off Show to Air on October 22". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
16. "MAC Announces 2024-25 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll & Teams". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 23, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024.