The 2004 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2003-04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place from March 8–13 at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

. Its winner received the Mid-American Conference

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

's automatic bid

Automatic bid

Automatic bid is a term generally used to describe a bid or berth to a tournament, granted based on performance in prior competition, and not based on subjective picking...

 to the 2004 NCAA Tournament

2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 16, 2004, and ended with the championship game on April 5 at the Alamodome in San Antonio,...

. It is a single-elimination tournament

Single-elimination tournament

A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...

 with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes

Bye (sports)

A bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...

 in the first round. All MAC teams were invited to participate. Western Michigan

Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball

The Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The school's team competes in the Mid-American Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2004...

, the MAC regular season winner, received the number one seed in the tournament.

Standings

2003–04 MAC men's basketball standings
	| Conf	| Overall
Team	W	L	PCT	W	L	PCT
MAC East
MAC West

Seeding

1. Western Michigan
2. Kent State
3. Miami
4. Toledo
5. Buffalo
6. Ball State
7. Bowling Green
8. Marshall
9. Eastern Michigan
10. Ohio
11. Akron
12. Northern Illinois
13. Central Michigan

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

First Round

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Toledo	51	40	91
Central Michigan	51	37	88

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Buffalo	43	47	90
Northern Illinois	38	35	73

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Ball State	37	39	76
Akron	35	37	72

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Bowling Green	29	27	56
Ohio	21	33	54

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Marshall	46	32	78
Eastern Michigan	33	26	59

Quarterfinals

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Kent State	31	48	79
Bowling Green	31	35	66

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Miami	34	38	72
Ball State	30	37	67

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Western Michigan	38	58	96
Marshall	28	34	62

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Toledo	47	50	97
Buffalo	44	41	85

Semi-finals

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Western Michigan	38	49	87
Toledo	32	45	77

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Kent State	26	40	66
Miami	26	30	56

Finals

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Western Michigan	36	41	77
Kent State	37	29	66