The 2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the
2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020 and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5.
Season ...
in November. Conference play began in January 2021 and concluded in March 2021. In a season limited due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
,
Toledo won the regular season title with a conference record of 15-4.
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
won the
MAC tournament and represented the
MAC in the
NCAA tournament where they defeated No. 4-seeded
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
in the first round before falling to No. 5-seeded
Creighton in the second round. Toledo went to the
NIT where they lost to
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
in the first round.
Preseason awards
The preseason coaches' poll and league awards were announced by the league office on November 19, 2020.
Preseason men's basketball coaches poll
''(First place votes in parenthesis)''
#
Bowling Green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...
(8) 132
#
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
(1) 117
#
Akron
Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...
(2) 115
#
Buffalo 109
#
Ball State
Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers and Indianapolis.
On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, industrialists and founders of the Ball C ...
104
#
Toledo (1) 93
#
Kent State
Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...
65
#
Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...
57
#
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
48
#
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...
43
#
Central Michigan
Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan corre ...
40
#
Western Michigan
West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for an arbitrary region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Most narrowly it refers to the Grand Rapids-Muskegon-Holland, Michigan, Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region a ...
13
MAC tournament champions: Bowling Green (4), Akron (2), Ball State (1), Buffalo (1), Eastern Michigan (1), Kent State (1), Miami (1), Toledo (1)
Honors
Conference matrix
All-MAC awards
Mid-American men's basketball weekly awards
Postseason
Mid–American tournament
NCAA tournament
Postseason awards
#Coach of the Year:
Tod Kowalczyk
Tod Edward Kowalczyk (born June 19, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and current head men's basketball coach at the University of Toledo. He was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
A university () is an insti ...
, Toledo
#Player of the Year:
Marreon Jackson
Marreon Jamar Jackson (born October 29, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the CSO Voluntari. He previously played for the Toledo Rockets and the Arizona State Sun Devils.
High school career
Jackson grew up in Cleveland, Ohio ...
, Toledo
#Freshman of the Year:
Ryan Rollins
Ryan Anthony Rollins (born July 3, 2002) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Toledo Rockets.
Early life and high school ca ...
, Toledo
#Defensive Player of the Year:
Josh Mballa
Joshua Kenneth Mballa (born 29 July 1999) is a French basketball player. He played college basketball for the Ole Miss Rebels, the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Buffalo Bulls.
Early life and career
Mballa was born in Detroit, Michigan but raised in ...
, Buffalo
#Sixth Man of the Year: Trey Diggs, Bowling Green
Honors
See also
*
2020–21 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020 21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season