Mid-American Conference

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Buffalo Bulls & Eastern Michigan Eagles have been selected to win their respective divisions in the 2018-19 MAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll. The poll was determined by the league’s 12 head coaches & a 23-member MAC News Media Panel. Buffalo received a unanimous 35 first place votes when it came to picking who would win the East crown, while Eagles received 17 first place votes to take home the West title. 
 
The Bulls also received 25 votes to win the MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Ten of the league's top men's basketball players were also selected to the preseason All-MAC teams for the East and West Divisions as announced by the league office.
 
Buffalo is coming off a record-breaking season in 2017-18 where the Bulls won a school-record 27 games and finished 15-3 in Mid-American Conference play, its first ever outright regular season title.  After rolling through the MAC Tournament, the Bulls picked up one of the biggest upsets in the NCAA Tournament last season, defeating PAC-12 champion Arizona, 89-68, in the first round.  The Bulls return three of their top four scorers from last year’s team, all three who averaged over 15.0 points per game last year.
 
In all, the Bulls return eight scholarship players from last year’s team, while adding in a talent group of newcomers to the squad.  If the Bulls can pull off another championship in Cleveland, they would become the first MAC team ever to win four league titles in a five-year span.
 
Buffalo is followed in the East Division preseason predictions by Miami, while Kent State was selected to finish third and Ohio fourth. Akron was tabbed to finish fifth and Bowling Green sixth to round out this year’s selections. 
 
Eastern Michigan returns 10 letterwinners and four starters from last season's team that finished the year 22-13 overall and 11-7 in the Mid-American Conference, including its top three scorers in Minnie, Thompson, and Paul Jackson. 
 
Ball State followed Eastern Michigan in the preseason rankings in second, while Toledo was selected to finish third.  Western Michigan was picked to place fourth, while Northern Illinois and Central Michigan rounded out the West Division selections.
 
The West Division Preseason All-MAC representatives are Ball State's Tayler Persons, Eastern Michigan's James Thompson IV & teammate Elijah Minnie, NIU's Eugene German & Toledo's Jaelan Sanford.
 
The East Division Preseason All-MAC squad is comprised of Buffalo's C.J. Massinburg, Nick Perkins & Jeremy Harris, Kent States Jaylin Walker and Bowling Green’s Demajeo Wiggins.
 
The MAC regular season gets underway on Tuesday, November 6 as eight MAC programs take the hardwood. Conference action begins on Friday, January 4 as teams will start to fight for position in the MAC Men's Basketball Tournament that will take place on March 14-16 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

2018-19 MAC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll
 
East Division -- Points (first place votes)
1. Buffalo – 210 (35)
2. Miami – 127
3. Kent State – 122 
4. Ohio – 121 
5. Akron – 97 
6. Bowling Green – 58 
 
West Division – Points (first place votes)
1. Eastern Michigan – 183  (17)
2. Ball State – 175 (11)
3. Toledo – 156 (5)
4. Western Michigan – 81 (1)
5. Northern Illinois – 73 
6. Central Michigan -- 67 (1)
 
Tournament Champion: Buffalo 25, Eastern Michigan 3, Toledo 3, Central Michigan 1, Miami 1, Northern Illinois 1, Western Michigan 1
 
MAC Men’s Basketball East Division Preseason All-MAC
Demajeo Wiggins, Sr., Forward, Bowling Green
C.J. Massinburg, Sr., Guard, Buffalo
Jeremy Harris, Sr., Guard, Buffalo
Nick Perkins, Sr., Forward, Buffalo
Jaylin Walker, Sr., Guard, Kent State
 
MAC Men’s Basketball West Division Preseason All-MAC
Tayler Persons, Sr., Guard, Ball State
James Thompson IV, Sr., Forward/Center, Eastern Michigan
Elijah Minnie, Sr., Forward, Eastern Michigan
Eugene German, Jr., Guard, Northern Illinois
Jaelan Sanford, Sr., Guard, Toledo