2010 MAC Conference Tournament: Welcome to Cleveland!

The 2010 MAC Conference Tournament is about to get underway and as usual the action should be exciting, unpredictable, and it will culminate with a team getting the automation bid to the NCAA Tournament on March, 13.

The four preliminary games begin on Sunday, March 7 with games held at the campus sites. The winners from the campus sites will join the top four seeds at Quicken Loans Arena on March 11.

The top seed and favorite is Kent St. and they will open playing the winner of Ohio and Ball St. Kent St. should win that game and advance. Second seeded Central Michigan is no stranger to doing well in the MAC Tournament. They will open playing the winner of Bowling Green and Western Michigan.

The third seed is Akron and look out for the Zips. They play the winner of Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan. Coming in as the fourth seed in the 2010 MAC Tournament is Miami (OH) they open playing the winner of Toledo and Buffalo.

The real party begins with the second round games in Cleveland on March 11. All the top seeds should be in good shape this day. I would say they would all advance to Friday's semifinal games.

That would create a Friday of incredible basketball at the 2010 MAC Tournament. Central Michigan and Akron would kick things off.Akron defeated Central Michigan during the regular season and I expect they would win again here. Top seed Kent and Miami are up next. Kent is too strong and playing too well right now to lose.

The final and game and championship should pit Kent and Akron against each other. Kent beat Akron both times during the regular season. The games weren't close and Kent poses several matchup problems for Akron. Kent again should go on to win and earn the 2010 MAC Tournament championship.

This is the 10th year for the tournament in Cleveland and the 30th year overall for the MAC Tournament. Players like Dan Majerle, Earl Boykins, Ron Harper, and Gary Trent have earned their stripes in the MAC Tournament over the years. We'll see what surprises are in store for this year.