The MAC basketball tournament begins Thursday, and the automatic bid to the Big Dance is Akron's to lose.

The Zips (25-6) rolled through conference play this season, dropping just one MAC game while capturing the program's first regular-season championship since 2020. Akron has won the MAC Tournament in two of the last three years, earning the right to represent the conference in the NCAA Tournament.

But the road to another March Madness bid won't be easy for the Zips with competition looming throughout the bracket.

Kent State has advanced to the MAC championship game in each of the last three seasons, and the Golden Flashes are in the midst of yet another 20-win campaign. Miami (OH), the No. 2 seed, is just one win shy of tying the program's single-season wins record. And Ohio, the No. 5 seed, is the only MAC team to defeat Akron this season.

The Sporting News has everything that you need to know about watching the MAC Tournament with a full schedule that includes TV and live stream information for every game.

The quarterfinals of the 2025 MAC Tournament are available to stream exclusively with ESPN+.

You can get an ESPN+ subscription for $11.99 per month or purchase an annual plan for $119.99 per year, a $24 savings. Stream your favorite teams live and enjoy more sports anywhere with an ESPN+ subscription.

The semifinals will air live on CBS Sports Network, while ESPN2 will carry the championship game. Those games can be streamed live on Fubo, which offers a free trial, so you can try before you buy.

The 2025 MAC basketball tournament will begin Thursday, March 13 and last through Saturday, March 15. All games will be played at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

See the complete seedings for this year's MAC Tournament in the table below.

Only the top eight teams, based on regular-season conference records and tiebreakers, qualified for the conference tournament. That means Ball State, Central Michigan, Buffalo, and Northern Illinois will not participate.