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The 2014 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament tips off tonight and concludes in five days with the crowning of a champion. There is bound to be endless amounts of #MACtion during the 11 games that will take place this week, and we want you to experience every last second of it.
2014 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament Coverage
2014 MAC Women's Tournament Coverage
The main attractions to the tournament are obviously Bowling Green, Central Michigan and Akron. Those three teams dominated the league in ways seen very rarely in conference history. The three went a combined 47-7 in conference play this season but were 42-2 against the other nine teams. Of course, this doesn't mean there will be nothing to watch in the early rounds. Eastern Michigan just knocked off Central Michigan on Saturday and plays two dynamic freshmen. Miami upset Akron early in the season. Ball State and Toledo have shown that they're capable of standing toe-to-toe with the teams at the top. One-and-done tournaments can provide wacky happenings, and this year should be no different.
First, let's explain how the tournament works, so you can understand how and when to watch the games. (Here's a full seed-by-seed breakdown of the 2014 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament bracket.) The MAC Tournament is set up to reward the conference's top teams in the regular season. The goal is to get the best team possible into the NCAA Tournament. The two with the best regular-season records receive direct byes into the semifinals, while the third and fourth teams get direct byes into the third round. The bottom eight seeds receive no byes and comprise the four first-round games.
This year's first through third round games will be broadcast exclusively online via the MAC Digital Network, which you can access at the MAC's website. The semifinals and championship game will all be broadcast on the Time Warner Cable Sports Channel and will also be available online through ESPN3 and the MAC's website. The streaming at mac-sports.com is free. However, it should be noted (particularly for residents in the MAC's geographical footprint) that the Time Warner broadcasts may be subject to blackout on ESPN3.
There are other ways to follow the tournament that don't involve television or live streaming. You can access audio feeds through individual school websites, which you can find all in one place at mac-sports.com. If you cannot watch or listen but still want to follow the games as they happen, the MAC's tournament website will have links to live stats. And aside from following us on Twitter, we'd also suggest that you follow Phil Burwell (@PBurwellMAC), who is the MAC's media relations guru for women's basketball.
Time for talk is over. Here's a complete breakdown of when, where and how to watch the games. It will be updated nightly to show which teams have moved on.
2014 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament |
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Round 1 (Campus Sites), Monday, March 10 | ||||
GAME | AWAY TEAM | HOME TEAM | TIME | HOW TO WATCH |
1 | Northern Illinois (9) | NIU 81, EMU 76 (OT) |
MAC Digital Network | |
2 | Ball State (5) | BSU 73, KSU 38 |
MAC Digital Network | |
3 | Toledo (6) | Toledo 61, Ohio 44 |
MAC Digital Network | |
4 | Western Michigan (7) | WMU 82, Miami 72 |
MAC Digital Network | |
Round 2 (Cleveland), Wednesday, March 12 | ||||
5 |
|
Ball State (5) |
BSU 61, NIU 47 |
MAC Digital Network |
6 |
|
Toledo (6) |
Toledo 72, WMU 61 |
MAC Digital Network |
Quarterfinals (Cleveland), Thursday, March 13 | ||||
7 | Ball State (5) |
BSU 74, Buffalo 60 |
MAC Digital Network | |
8 |
|
Akron (3) | Akron 83, Toledo 69 |
MAC Digital Network |
Semifinals (Cleveland), Friday, March 14 | ||||
9 | Ball State (5) |
BSU 73, BGSU 55 |
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel / WatchESPN / MACDN | |
10 | Akron (3) |
Akron 85, CMU 69 |
Time Warner Cable SportsChannel / WatchESPN / MACDN | |
MAC Championship (Cleveland), Saturday, March 15 | ||||
11 | Akron (3) | Ball State (5) | 1:00 p.m. | Time Warner Cable SportsChannel / WatchESPN / MACDN |