The expanding size, scope and hype of the Tournament have benefited the less-prestigious conferences in general, and the MAC has gotten in where it fits in as well. Seven Mid-American Conference members- Kent, Ohio, Miami, Ball State and all three directional Michigan schools- have combined for sixteen wins since 1989; four of those teams have survived past the final weekend and Kent State got to within a game of the Final Four in 2002.

Here are their most memorable stories.

Before there were Sixty-Four

Founded in 1946, the Mid-American Conference first received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in seven years later, when O.G. Miami represented the conference. In those archaic days the MAC champion was always slotted in the old Mideast Region and was almost always road-kill against the representatives from the Big Ten, SEC and independent powers like Marquette, Notre Dame and DePaul. Despite the presence of great individual talents such as Bowling Green’s Nate Thurmond, Toledo’s Steve Mix and Central Michigan’s Dan Roundfield the MAC, then as now, was usually one-and-done in the Dance.

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Since the NCAA Tournament was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 and prior to this year there have been 104 games between the second-seeded and 15th seeded teams. In these 104 games, the No. 2 seed has advanced to the round of 32 an overwhelming 100 times.

The University of Akron, the No. 15 seed in the Southwest Region of the 2010-11 NCAA Tournament, will look to overcome these long odds today when they lock horns with Notre Dame

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The 2011 First Energy MAC Basketball Tournament has concluded, and after a three-day stretch of college basketball bliss at Quicken Loans Arena, this writer has some unanswered questions he would like to know the answers to.

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Free throw shooting has been a bit of an Achilles heel for Kent State this season. Saturday, in the MAC Tournament final at Quicken Loans Arena, the Flashes' Achilles heel led to their demise.

Kent missed seven of nine free throws in the final 6:06 and overtime as Akron, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, grabbed the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 66-65 victory over the top-seeded Golden Flashes.

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