Ball State University Athletics
Men?s Hoops Finalizes Schedule with MAC Games
COMPLETE SCHEDULE
MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Ball State men’s basketball team will open Mid-American Conference play Jan. 3 at Kent State, according to the schedule released Tuesday by the league office.
The defending MAC West Division co-champions, in year four under head coach James Whitford, will play their first conference home game Jan. 7 against Bowling Green.
The 18-game league schedule features home-and-home matchups against each of the other five MAC West Division schools. The Cardinals will play a pair of MAC East Division teams twice and the other four teams from that side once.
The East Division foes Ball State will play home-and-home are Bowling Green and defending MAC Tournament champion Buffalo.
The Cardinals’ other road games against the East Division come in the opener at Kent State and at defending regular season champion Akron. They will play home games against Miami and Ohio.
The league schedule will follow a Tuesday-Saturday pattern with the exception of the final regular season game, which will be played on Friday, March 3.
Ball State will play three of its first five league games at home. The Cardinals also have a three-game homestand midway through the league slate with games Jan. 28 against Western Michigan, Jan. 31 against Toledo and Feb. 4 against Buffalo.
Ball State will play four of its final six games on the road but will close the regular season at home against Northern Illinois.
The MAC Tournament begins March 6 with first-round games on campus sites. The top four seeds will receive a bye to Cleveland, where the final three rounds will be played March 9-11 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Ball State finished last season 21-14 and shared the MAC West Division championship at 10-8 in league play. The Cardinals played in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) and reached the quarterfinals. The program tallied the fourth-largest turnaround in the country while reaching the 20-win mark and the postseason for the first time in 14 years.
The Cardinals recently released their non-conference schedule, which includes seven home games, road contests against three NIT teams from last year and a trip to Las Vegas. Ball State will host UIndy for an exhibition game Nov. 3 and then open the season Nov. 11 at Saint Louis.
2016-17 BALL STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Tues., Jan. 3 at Kent State
Sat., Jan. 7 BOWLING GREEN
Tues., Jan. 10 MIAMI
Sat., Jan. 14 at Buffalo
Tues., Jan. 17 CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Sat., Jan. 21 at Bowling Green
Tues., Jan. 24 at Eastern Michigan
Sat., Jan. 28 WESTERN MICHIGAN
Tues., Jan. 31 TOLEDO
Sat., Feb. 4 BUFFALO
Tues., Feb. 7 at Akron
Sat., Feb. 11 OHIO
Tues., Feb. 14 at Northern Illinois
Sat., Feb. 18 at Central Michigan
Tues., Feb. 21 EASTERN MICHIGAN
Sat., Feb. 25 at Western Michigan
Tues., Feb. 28 at Toledo
Fri., March 3 NORTHERN ILLINOIS
MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
Mon., March 6 -- First Round (Campus Sites)
Thurs., March 9 -- Quarterfinals (Cleveland, Ohio)
Fri., March 10 -- Semifinals (Cleveland, Ohio)
Sat., March 11 -- Championship (Cleveland, Ohio)
Home games in BOLD CAPS