One of the main reasons fans tune into the early rounds of the NCAA Basketball Tournament is to see upsets.

With all 32 conference winners earning automatic bids to the Big Dance, there are plenty of opportunities for Cinderella runs. For smaller conferences like the Mid-American Conference, that are one-bid leagues, winning the conference tournament is paramount to reaching March Madness and puts a new level of pressure to peak at the right time.

When UMass made the move to the MAC this year, it was a football-based move to get the Minutemen into an FBS conference. The downside was taking a step down in conferences in basketball, moving out of the Atlantic 10, a league that is considered a strong mid-major.

To illustrate the difference in the two conferences, the A-10 has earned an at-large bid in three of the last five tournaments. The last time the MAC received an at-large bid came in 1999.

If the Minutemen want to return to the big stage for the first time since 2014, it will almost certainly have to take home a conference tournament championship. Based on the way UMass coach Frank Martin talks about the MAC, that won’t be a walk in the park.

“The top of the MAC is just as good as the A-10,” Martin said in July. “There’s a misconception out there that because we were in the A-10 we’re going to show up to the MAC and just roll through that thing. Like, are you serious? [People] have no idea how good Toledo, Akron, Kent [State], Miami (Ohio) and schools like that have been for the last number of years. They got really good coaches and really good guards.”

Playing in a lesser conference, it’s a challenge to earn a high seed to make an easier run through the field. Looking back to 2000, just twice has the MAC champion earned a top-10 seed in the NCAAs: Buffalo, under Nate Oats, was the No. 6 seed in 2019 which was the highest seed a MAC school has received since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, as well as Kent State, which earned the No. 9 seed in 2008. Over the last 25 years, the MAC champion has averaged a 12 seed.

Buffalo head coach Nate Oats reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, March 5, 2019, in Athens, Ohio. Buffalo won 82-79. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Since the COVID-canceled tournament in 2020, Akron has won the MAC tourney three times: in 2025, 2024 and 2022. The Zips were a 13 seed in ’25 and ’22 and a 14 seed in ’24, but were unable to pull an upset into the Round of 32. Kent State was the No. 13 seed in 2023 but lost in the Round of 64.

The last MAC program to win an NCAA Tournament contest was Ohio in 2021. The Bobcats were the No. 13 seed and sprung an upset over No. 4 Virginia before falling to Creighton in the Round of 32.

The 2021 Ohio squad was the third of three straight tournaments where the MAC representative came out victorious in the Big Dance. The 2019 Buffalo team took down Arizona State in its opening game but was unable to get past Texas Tech — the Red Raiders eventually played in the national championship game — in the Round of 32. The year before in 2018, Buffalo was the No. 13 seed and upset Arizona in the Round of 64 before falling to Kentucky in the Round of 32.

Buffalo’s win in 2018 was the first time a MAC program came out victorious in the tournament since 2012, when 13th-seeded Ohio took down Michigan in the opening round before springing a second victory against South Florida in the Round of 32. The Bobcats took North Carolina to overtime in the Sweet 16 but were unable to defeat the Tar Heels.

Ohio also pulled an upset over Georgetown as the No. 14 seed in 2010 but fell in the Round of 32.

The early 2000s saw MAC programs achieve success in the tournament. In 2003 Central Michigan, as a No. 11 seed, upset Creighton in the Round of 64 before losing to Duke in the Round of 32. In 2001, Kent State took down Indiana as a No. 13 seed before falling to Cincinnati in the next round.

That upset set the stage for what Kent State did in 2002. The Golden Flashes were awarded the No. 10 seed and took down Oklahoma State in the Round of 64. Kent proceeded to upset No. 2 Alabama in the Round of 32 before taking down No. 3 Pittsburgh in overtime in the Round of 16 to earn a spot in the Elite 8, where it fell to Indiana. The Elite 8 run was the deepest a MAC school has gone since the turn of the century. Fun fact: NFL Hall-of-Famer Antonio Gates was a key player on those Golden Flashes’ squads.

Kent State’s Antonio Gates celebrates after defeating Pittsburgh in an NCAA South Regional in Lexington, Ky, Thursday, March 21, 2002. Kent State won 78-73 in overtime. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

All in all, eight of the 25 MAC teams to reach the NCAA Tournament have gone on to win at least one game. Akron and Kent State lead the way with six tournament appearances since 2000, followed by Ohio and Buffalo with four each. Western Michigan has made it twice while Miami Ohio, Central Michigan and Ball State have each been once.

The hope is that UMass can cement itself as a cream-of-the-crop program and represent the MAC in the tournament on a yearly basis. With NIL such a big factor, UMass is expected to lead the way in the conference on the court, something that it hopes will translate to success at the national level.

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