The Mid-American Conference has announced a revised format for the 2012 FirstEnergy MAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments this coming March at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.
The new format will seed both tournaments by rewarding the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds with a bye into the semifinal round, while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds will receive a bye to the quarterfinal round.
Seeding for the tournaments will be determined by winning percentage, regardless of division.
"This continues the efforts of our membership to challenge the status quo," MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher said. "The new format will increase the importance of each regular season game and reward teams that excel during the regular season and bring greater value to the seeds earned by the top teams."
The men's and women's MAC Basketball Tournaments will begin March 7-10, with the men's opening round games beginning on campus sites Monday, March 5 for seeds No. 5-No. 12, while the women's opening round games for the same seeds will begin on campus sites Saturday, March 3.
The MAC will host the second round on Wednesday, March 7, the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 8, and the semifinals on Friday, March 9 at Quicken Loans Arena. All three days will feature two afternoon women's contests and two evening men's contests, with both Championships scheduled for Saturday, March 10 at times to be announced at a later date.
"Changing the tournament bracket falls in line with our philosophical approach to each of the MAC Championships," Greg Christopher, Director of Athletics at Bowling Green State University and Chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee said. "Our tournaments and championships are about preparing our best teams for post-season. With that in mind, it makes sense to give our top teams byes and better-position their paths to the championship."
Last year, the MAC and Quicken Loans Arena announced a six-year contract extension which will keep the MAC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament in Cleveland through the 2017 season. \
Both tournaments have been held at Quicken Loans since 2000. The MAC Men's and Women's Tournament will be televised on SportsTime Ohio Wednesday through Saturday, March 7-10, with the men's championship to be televised on ESPN2 on Saturday, March 10. All men's games, along with the women's semifinals and championship game will also be broadcast on WKNR ESPN Cleveland 850 AM.
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