2025–26 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

2025–26 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams13
Regular season
Tournament
VenueRocket Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
2025–26 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Miami (OH) 1 – 0   1.000 12 – 0   1.000
Buffalo 1 – 0   1.000 10 – 2   .833
Kent State 1 – 0   1.000 10 – 2   .833
Akron 1 – 0   1.000 9 – 3   .750
Bowling Green 1 – 0   1.000 9 – 3   .750
Northern Illinois 1 – 0   1.000 5 – 7   .417
Toledo 0 – 0   – 6 – 6   .500
UMass 0 – 1   .000 8 – 4   .667
Eastern Michigan 0 – 1   .000 6 – 6   .500
Ohio 0 – 1   .000 5 – 7   .417
Western Michigan 0 – 1   .000 5 – 7   .417
Central Michigan 0 – 1   .000 4 – 8   .333
Ball State 0 – 1   .000 3 – 9   .250
† 2026 MAC tournament winner
As of December 20, 2025

The 2025–26 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2025, followed by the start of the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play will begin in January 2025 and conclude in March 2025. The 2026 MAC tournament will be held at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio for the 27th consecutive season.[1] The conference will see its first change in membership since 2005 with the addition of UMass[2] It will also be the last MAC season for Northern Illinois, which will rejoin the Horizon League in 2026 after a nearly 30-year absence.[3]

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Central Michigan

After four seasons and a 49–75 overall record, Central Michigan fired Tony Barbee on April 3, 2025.[4] On Monday, April 14, 2025, Central Michigan named Andy Bronkema the new head coach.[5]

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 9 348–219 (.614) 168–88 (.656) 99–49 (.669) 2 3 3 0 0
Ball State Michael Lewis UCLA (Asst.) 4 49–45 (.521) 49–45 (.521) 25–29 (.463) 0 0 0 0 0
Bowling Green Todd Simon Southern Utah 3 162–149 (.521) 34–32 (.515) 18–18 (.500) 0 0 0 0 0
Buffalo George Halcovage Villanova (Assoc. HC) 3 13–49 (.210) 13–49 (.210) 6–30 (.167) 0 0 0 0 0
Central Michigan Andy Bronkema Ferris State 1 256–93 (.734) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Eastern Michigan Stan Heath Lakeland Magic 5 255–284 (.473) 47–78 (.376) 25–49 (.338) 0 0 0 0 0
Kent State Rob Senderoff Kent State (Asst.) 15 288–176 (.621) 288–176 (.621) 149–101 (.596) 1 2 2 0 0
Miami Travis Steele Xavier 4 118–96 (.551) 52–46 (.531) 29–25 (.537) 0 0 0 0 0
Northern Illinois Rashon Burno Arizona State (Asst.) 5 39–85 (.315) 39–85 (.315) 22–47 (.319) 0 0 0 0 0
Ohio Jeff Boals Stony Brook 7 169–118 (.589) 114–76 (.600) 64–43 (.598) 0 1 1 0 0
Toledo Tod Kowalczyk Green Bay 16 432–308 (.584) 296–196 (.602) 166–101 (.622) 5 0 0 0 0
UMass Frank Martin South Carolina 4 335–248 (.575) 47–47 (.500) 0–0 (–) 0 0 0 0 0
Western Michigan Dwayne Stephens Michigan State (Assoc. HC) 4 32–63 (.337) 32–63 (.337) 22–32 (.407) 0 0 0 0 0

Notes:

  • Appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Years at school includes 2025–26 season.
  • MAC records are from time at current school only.
  • All records are through the beginning of the season.

Source - [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]

Preseason

The MAC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tip-Off was held on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Each team had their head coach and a student athlete from both the men's and women's basketball team for interviews.[18]

MAC Men's Basketball Preview Coaches & Student-Athletes

  • Akron: Head Coach John Groce & Tavari Johnson (Senior, Guard)
  • Ball State: Head Coach Michael Lewis & Juwan Maxey (Senior, Guard)
  • Bowling Green: Head Coach Todd Simon & Javontae Campbell (Senior, Guard)
  • Buffalo: Head Coach George Halcovage III & Angelo Brizzi (Grad., Guard)
  • Central Michigan: Head Coach Andy Bronkema & Phat Phat Brooks (Sophomore, Guard)
  • Eastern Michigan: Head Coach Stan Heath & Mak Manciel (Senior, Guard)
  • Kent State: Head Coach Rob Senderoff & Delrecco Gillespie (Senior, Forward)
  • Miami: Head Coach Travis Steele & Peter Suder (Senior, Guard)
  • Northern Illinois: Head Coach Rashon Burno & Dylan Ducommun (Freshman, Guard)
  • Ohio: Head Coach Jeff Boals & Jackson Paveletzke (Senior, Guard)
  • Toledo: Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk & Sonny Wilson (Junior, Guard)
  • Western Michigan: Head Coach Dwayne Stephens & Max Burton (R-Junior, Forward)

Preseason men's basketball coaches poll

Men's Basketball Preseason Poll
Place Team Points First place votes
1. Akron 143 11
2. Miami 133 2
3. Kent State 122 --
4. Ohio 108 --
5. UMass 98 --
6. Toledo 95 --
7. Bowling Green 73 --
8. Ball State 62 --
9. Eastern Michigan 52 --
10. Western Michigan 46 --
11. Buffalo 37 --
12. Central Michigan 31 --
13. Northern Illinois 14 --

MAC Tournament Champions:Akron (8), Miami (2), Kent State (1), Ohio (1), UMass (1)

Source[19]

MAC Preseason All-Conference

Honor Recipient
Preseason All-MAC First Team Tavari Johnson, Senior, Guard, Akron
Javontae Campbell, Senior, Guard, Bowling Green
Delrecco Gillespie, Senior, Forward, Kent State
Peter Suder, Senior, Guard, Miami
Jackson Paveletzke, Senior, Guard, Ohio
Preseason All-MAC Second Team Evan Mahaffey, Senior, Wing, Akron
Shammah Scott, Graduate Student, Guard, Akron
Daniel Hankins-Sanford, Senior, Forward, UMass
Javan Simmons, Redshirt Junior, Forward, Ohio
Sonny Wilson, Junior, Guard, Toledo

Source[19]

Regular season

MAC–SBC Challenge

The third installment of the MAC–SBC Challenge scheduling alliance was announce on July 1, 2025.[20] All 13 men's and women's Mid-American Conference teams will play 13 men's and women's teams in the Sun Belt Conference.

MAC–SBC Challenge men's basketball
First round
November 3, 2025
MAC (home) Score Score SBC (away)
Akron 85 71 James Madison
Ball State 75 64 Louisiana
Bowling Green 83 48 Texas State
Buffalo 85 79 Southern Miss
Central Michigan 82 66 Appalachian State
Eastern Michigan 71 49 Georgia State
Kent State 97 103 Troy
Miami (OH) 87 72 Old Dominion
Northern Illinois 102 82 Louisiana Monroe
Ohio 85 89 Arkansas State
Toledo 74 76 South Alabama
UMass 72 78 Marshall
Western Michigan 76 71 Coastal Carolina
First round 9 4 Source[21]
Second round
February 7, 2026
MAC (away) Score Score SBC (home)
Akron
Ball State
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Central Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Kent State
Miami (OH)
Northern Illinois
Ohio
Toledo
UMass
Western Michigan
Second round
Total wins

All-MAC awards

Mid-American men's basketball weekly awards

[22]

Week Player(s) of the Week School
Nov 10[23] Javontae Campbell
Morgan Safford 		Bowling Green
Kent State
Nov 17[24] Delrecco Gillespie Kent State
Nov 24[25] Daniel Freitag
Mohammad Habhab 		Buffalo
Eastern Michigan
Dec 1[26] Daniel Freitag (2) Buffalo
Dec 8[27] Tavari Johnson
Javontae Campbell (2) 		Akron
Bowling Green
Dec 15[28] Marcus Banks Jr. UMass
Dec 22
Dec 29
Jan 5
Jan 12
Jan 19
Jan 26
Feb 2
Feb 9
Feb 16
Feb 23
Mar 2
Mar 9

See also

2025–26 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. ^ "Horizon League Welcomes NIU" (Press release). Horizon League. February 27, 2025. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  4. ^ "Central Michigan fires men's basketball coach Tony Barbee". ESPN. April 3, 2025. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
  5. ^ "Andy Bronkema Named Central Michigan Head Men's Basketball Coach". Central Michigan University Athletics. Retrieved 2025-04-14.
  6. ^ "John Groce". Sports Reference.
  7. ^ "Michael Lewis". Sports Reference.
  8. ^ "Todd Simon". Sports Reference.
  9. ^ "George Halcovage". Sports Reference.
  10. ^ "Andy Bronkema". Sports Reference.
  11. ^ "Stan Heath". Sports Reference.
  12. ^ "Rob Senderoff". Sports Reference.
  13. ^ "Travis Steele". Sports Reference.
  14. ^ "Rashon Burno". Sports Reference.
  15. ^ "Jeff Boals". Sports Reference.
  16. ^ "Tod Kowalczyk". Sports Reference.
  17. ^ "Dwayne Stephens". Sports Reference.
  18. ^ "MAC Basketball x Field of 68 Tip-Off Show Live TODAY!". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 20, 2025. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  19. ^ a b "MAC Announces 2025-26 Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, All-MAC Teams". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 21, 2025. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  20. ^ "Initial Matchups Announced for 2025-26 MAC-SBC Challenge". GetSomeMaction.com. July 1, 2025. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  21. ^ "Nine Men's Teams Tally MAC-SBC Challenge Wins on Opening Night". GetSomeMaction.com. November 3, 2025. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  22. ^ "Men's Basketball Players of the Week".
  23. ^ "Campbell, Safford Earn Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honors".
  24. ^ "Kent State's Gillespie Garners Player of the Week Accolade".
  25. ^ "Freitag, Habhab Collect Player of the Week Honors".
  26. ^ "Freitag Claims Men's Basketball Player of the Week Accolade".
  27. ^ "Johnson, Campbell Claim Player of the Week Honors".
  28. ^ "Banks Jr. Earns Player of the Week Accolade". getsomemaction.com. 15 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
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