Ohio did what it needed to do — it won a game — and it still doesn't have a chance to earn a first-round bye in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Kent State sealed the No. 4 seed in the MAC Tournament on Wednesday, defeating Miami 78-51 and clinching the MAC East Division.
Though Ohio defeated Bowling Green 79-68 Wednesday in The Convo, it won't have a first-round bye in the tournament. The last time the Bobcats weren't a top four seed in the tournament was in 2013-2014, coach Bob Boldon's first season.
Ohio will have Senior Day on Saturday, and Akron will be their last opponent of the regular season. The Bobcats will play the Zips at 2 p.m. in The Convo.
Ohio has won two straight games, and despite recently coming off a three-game losing streak, it appears to be ready for the tournament. The Bobcats could have ended the season in a funk, surely not an ideal situation heading into the postseason.
Still, the vibes around the Bobcats are neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Rather, they are realistic.
The Bobcats know what kind of situation they’re in — it's a situation they can't control.
“We can’t worry about those teams that are the one, two and three seeds,” Boldon said after practice Monday. “We can’t get to that. It’s mathematically impossible.”
The top three seeds in the MAC are set. Central Michigan, Ball State and Northern Illinois will hold those seeds regardless of how the season ends.
But Boldon knows his team must only focus on the next game. That next game is against Akron, a team Ohio didn’t struggle with earlier in the season, but didn’t handle either.
Akron played Ohio well for about two and a half quarters Jan. 11. But the Bobcats prevailed, defeating the Zips 85-69.
