Ohio has already qualified for the Mid-American Conference tournament; the only question will be who the Bobcats will play and how far they will go. With the 74-67 win over Akron, Ohio is 10-5 in the conference and would be the third seed in the eight-team MAC tournament if the season ended today.
With previous No. 3 Central Michigan suffering back-to-back losses, Ohio was able to jump past Central Michigan to get to the third spot. Toledo, the No. 2 team, lost to previously 3-11 in the MAC Northern Illinois, opening a possibility for Ohio to claim the No. 2 spot in the MAC. While Toledo's lead over Ohio was trimmed to just one game, Toledo already has a head-to-head tie-breaker over Ohio. This means to surpass Toledo in the standings, Ohio will have to win the rest of its games while Toledo loses twice. With Toledo set to play Buffalo, Miami and Kent State in its final three games, that possibility is unlikely.
Ohio is technically tied for third with Central Michigan in the standings, but a head-to-head tiebreaker has Ohio currently ahead. There are no certainties, but Ohio is still two games ahead of both Miami and Bowling Green, while they still have to play both teams. If Ohio can win two of its last three games, the lowest seed the team will have in the MAC Tournament is the four seed.
With the No. 2, 3 and 4 seed seemingly being the most likely seeds for Ohio right now, it begs the question, what is the difference? At least in the long run, not as much as one might think. Early on, the No. 2 seed would have its advantages as the Bobcats could take on a lesser opponent in round one. Still, in the semifinals of the tournament, the Bobcats would most likely face off against Toledo anyway.
The No. 3 seed may not have many more benefits than the No. 4 seed either, in fact, some could argue in the long run, it would be more of a hindrance. Akron still leads the MAC by a game over Toledo, so Akron will most likely be the No. 1 seed come tournament time. In the first round, the No. 3 and No. 4 seed would not have much difference as the No. 5 and 6 seed (Bowling Green and Miami) are currently tied for fifth. In the second round, with the No. 3 seed Ohio would most likely face Toledo, whom Ohio was swept by this season. With the No. 4 seed, Ohio would most likely face Akron, whom Ohio split with this season.
As seen in many of Ohio's games this season, including its second game against Toledo, the difference between a win and a loss is very thin. Ohio could have just as easily beaten Toledo and lost to Akron with a couple of made or missed shots but the point remains a team's record does not necessarily indicate how they will match up with a given opponent.
The MAC tournament implications of a given game can be a bit convoluted at times, but for Ohio Center AJ Clayton, he and the team know it is something to be aware of but not the end of the world.
"We just keep an eye on it," Clayton said. "You know, at the end of the day, we know the teams we're probably going to have to play."
Regardless of who Ohio faces or what seed it ends up with, the team will have to play a very high level of basketball to end up with a punched ticket to the NCAA tournament.
