Field Set for 2006 Kraft MAC Women's Basketball Tournament
March 1, 2006
Cleveland - The field has been set for the 2006 Kraft Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament that will lead to the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. This marks the 25th women's basketball tournament in MAC history.
A format change from previous seasons has the pairings reflected in cross-divisional matchups. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeded teams in each division will host the No. 6 and No. 5 teams, respectively, from the other division. The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in each division receive a bye to the quarterfinal round in Cleveland.
In the East Division, defending tournament champion Bowling Green (25-2, 16-0 MAC) and Kent State (19-8, 12-4) earned a direct pass to Cleveland. On the West side, Eastern Michigan (21-6, 15-1) and Western Michigan (14-13, 11-5) advanced to the quarterfinals.
No. 3 West Division Ball State (16-11, 9-7) will host No. 6 East Akron (5-22, 2-14) and No. 4 West Northern Illinois (11-16, 7-9) entertains No. 5 East Miami (8-19, 3-13). No. 3 East Buffalo (10-17, 5-11) will host No. 6 West Toledo (9-17, 4-12) and No. 4 East Ohio (8-19, 5-11) welcomes No. 5 West Central Michigan (16-11, 7-9).
Bowling Green goes into the tournament with a No. 24 national ranking, the highest by a MAC team since 1994. Eastern Michigan's 15-1 record is the best ever for a regular season runnerup in MAC history.
Two MAC teams with new head coaches this year - Buffalo and Northern Illinois - both will host a first round game.
The four teams that have advanced each year to the quarterfinals since the tournament moved to Cleveland in 2000 are Ball State, Kent State, Miami and Toledo.
Bowling Green is the defending tournament champion, however no MAC team since Toledo in 1996 and 1997 has been able to capture back-to-back tournament titles.
Kraft MAC Women's Basketball Tournament Schedule
Saturday, March 4 - on campus sites
Akron at Ball State, 2:00
Toledo at Buffalo, 2:00
Central Michigan at Ohio, 4:30
Miami at Northern Illinois, 7:00
Wednesday, March 8 - at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Game 1: Eastern Michigan vs. Ohio/CMU, 1:00
Game 2: Kent State vs. Ball State/Akron, 3:00*
Game 3: Bowling Green vs. NIU/Miami, 5:30*
Game 4: Western Michigan vs. Buffalo/Toledo, 7:30*
Friday, March 10 - at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, noon - (FSN Ohio)
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 2:30* - (FSN Ohio)
Saturday, March 11 - at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Championship game - 1:00 (FSN Ohio)
* or 30 minutes following previous game
