Central Michigan Chippewas vs Ball State Cardinals men's basketball preview: Ball State looks to clinch a bye in the MAC Tournament.

Central Michigan and Ball State clash in a MAC West matchup featuring the top two teams in the division. Ball State is coming off its highest output of the season with 115 points at home vs. Eastern Michigan and hold a 1-game lead over CMU, 2-game lead over Northern Illinois and Toledo.

Ball State used the three ball very effectively on Saturday making 18 threes and Sean Sellers led the attack. Sellers hit seven 3-pointers for a career high 26 points. After losing to Akron by double digits, the Cardinals have reeled off six victories and has them poised for a top-four seed in the MAC Tournament.

Central Michigan on the other hand has been one of the most confusing teams in the MAC this season. In their first three conference games they took down Akron and went 2-1. Next they lost two road games in a row before reeling off four consecutive victories by double digits including defeating Kent State and Ohio. At this point they were 6-3 in the MAC looking to be a top four seed. However they lost three more games and fell to .500 in the MAC. Finally they have won three of their last four and are looking to take the MAC West title.

The players to watch in this one are reigning MAC West player of the week John Simons as he just got into 13th place on the Central Michigan scoring list this past weekend. I'm also intrigued to see if Sellers can turn in a big effort in this MAC West matchup. The Cardinals finish off the season with Northern Illinois and Central Michigan finished with Western Michigan.