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With the UMass win, and Central Michigan's loss tonight, UMass has clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament. MAC's top-8 only format means this is a Quarterfinal game.

There's a scenario in which we can back into the 7th seed. See this post in another thread: viewtopic.php?p=585482#p585482

If we stay in 8th, we get Miami at 11 AM. Miami has clinched the 1.
If we back into 7th, we get Akron in the afternoon. It's slated as a TBD but last year that slot was a 4:30 start. Akron has clinched the 2.

All Thursday games on ESPN+

https://getsomemaction.com/feature/MBB-2026?path=mbball

Hoping we can back into the 7th seed and avoid Miami until the finals, should we be able to win. Of course, then I want us to win and have both UMass and Miami make the Tournament.

^ I would rather play Miami than Akron. If we somehow beat them and standings remain as is, we would face the winner of Ohio-Toledo.

Agree 69, I feel like Akron is a tougher front court matchup for us. But, gotta beat whoever is in front of you. Hope we can get hot and play like last night's last 8 minutes. Could really use all hands on deck too so I hope DHS & Clerc are healthy

Here is the bracket as it stands today. Even though Miami is unbeaten, I like our side better than the other where we would have to beat Akron and probably Kent State to get to game 3.

https://x.com/MACSports/status/2029171180498760117

69MG wrote: Wed Mar 04, 2026 12:26 pm ^ I would rather play Miami than Akron. If we somehow beat them and standings remain as is, we would face the winner of Ohio-Toledo.

Frankly I'm just as concerned with making sure Miami gets a few more wins and avoids any BS from the committee. I'll root for UMass no matter the opponent, but I'd rather play and beat Miami in the finals and get two MAC teams in.

Miami losing in the first round, to us or otherwise, might give the committee enough reason to be douchebags.

I absolutely want Miami. It's hard to beat a team 3 times in the same season. I can see the team getting up for that game and pulling it out, especially if Banks goes off.

Also a lot of eyeballs are going to be on that game because of Miami. I'm kinda surprised the league didn't find a way to get Miami's QF game on linear TV. But it's going to be all over the highlight reels and social media either way. Knocking them out of the MAC tournament would be a pretty big boost for our program. I do hope the Redhawks don't get screwed out of a tournament bid with 1 loss but I just don't see how the committee can do that. It would be sending a bad message.

InnervisionsUMASS wrote: Wed Mar 04, 2026 11:02 am Hoping we can back into the 7th seed and avoid Miami until the finals, should we be able to win. Of course, then I want us to win and have both UMass and Miami make the Tournament.

i think MIami may get snubbed as their current net ranking is 53. It sounds ridiculous but we know how this all works now with almost no leeway to non power 4 conferences plus Big East.

Agree with post that best if we get Miami and Umass in final and 2 Mac teams in. ….. hate to say it, but I would be shocked if we win two games in tourney.

stevemaz wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 6:23 am

InnervisionsUMASS wrote: Wed Mar 04, 2026 11:02 am Hoping we can back into the 7th seed and avoid Miami until the finals, should we be able to win. Of course, then I want us to win and have both UMass and Miami make the Tournament.

i think MIami may get snubbed as their current net ranking is 53. It sounds ridiculous but we know how this all works now with almost no leeway to non power 4 conferences plus Big East.

They might get snubbed if they lose in the 1st round, because the selection process has become a joke. I don't think they get snubbed if they lose in the finals.

Floridafan71 wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:24 am Agree with post that best if we get Miami and Umass in final and 2 Mac teams in. ….. hate to say it, but I would be shocked if we win two games in tourney.

Thanks, and yes, I fully agree that this is a long shot.

It will probably be dead in there for brunch except for the followers of the historic ‘25-‘26 Miami (OH) Redhawks but if we play em tough who knows, we could get it done.

If we win, I will not be missing UMass’ inaugural MAC Tournament weekend. I would be at Friday’s semifinal game at 5pm mid-court floor seats across from the benches.

Floridafan71 wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 7:24 am I would be shocked if we win two games in tourney.

I'll be shocked if we win one. Miami and Akron are significantly better than us, plain and simple, and we've struggled to win in the conference tourney in years past. Although it was a different league, we've lost to double-digit seeds in 2 of the last 3 years, and 2023's game was the 71-38 embarrassment. #barf

https://umasshoops.com/wiki/doku.php?id ... ournaments

^Frank has a long history of being terrible in conference tournaments:

@PatrickFlattery
...Frank Martin is 7-17 all time in conference tournament games and has been outscored by 131 points in those 24 games.

In his 18 previous seasons his teams have been knocked out in their first game 13 times. Taking out the SEC tournament cancelled by covid that means 76% of the time they lost immediately. His teams have also lost 7 straight conference tournament games, his last win coming in 2019.

Here's the breakdown by his various head coaching tenures:
Kansas State - 2-5, average margin of -1.14
South Carolina - 5-9, average margin of -4.93
UMass - 0-3, average margin of -18

We are 8th and will play Miami. For some unknown reason, the MAC cannot figure out who is 5th and 6th between Ohio and Bowling Green. All other slots are defined. They only played once and Bowling Green won, so it shouldn't be that hard to figure out.

We play the winner of the 4/5 game IF we somehow beat Miami.

https://getsomemaction.com/feature/MBB-2026

We lost to Miami by TWO on their floor. They have played multiple overtime games, including last night vs. Ohio, who we lost to by three. Time for our guys to make a name for themselves! 11AM is a great time for an upset.