The 2005 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2004-05 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place from March 7–12 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 2005 NCAA Tournament

2005 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 2005 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 15, 2005, and ended with the championship game on April 4 at the Edward Jones Dome in St...

. 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. Miami

Miami RedHawks men's basketball

The Miami RedHawks men's basketball team intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Miami University. The school competes in the Mid-American Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The RedHawks play home basketball games at Millett Hall in Oxford,...

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

Standings

2004–05 MAC men's basketball standings
	| Conf	| Overall
Team	W	L	PCT	W	L	PCT
MAC East
MAC West

Seeding

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

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period

First Round

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Ohio	33	39	72
Marshall	28	38	66

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Kent State	46	45	91
Central Michigan	26	34	60

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Akron	46	32	78
Eastern Michigan	33	33	66

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Buffalo	34	39	73
Northern Illinois	30	36	66

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Bowling Green	30	43	75
Ball State	45	30	73

Quarterfinals

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Buffalo	45	40	85
Toledo	37	35	72

Team	1st	2nd	OT	Final
Western Michigan	31	27	8	66
Akron	37	21	2	60

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Miami	39	46	85
Bowling Green	29	36	65

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Ohio	23	39	62
Kent State	20	35	55

Semi-finals

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Ohio	26	37	63
Miami	24	32	56

Team	1st	2nd	Final
Buffalo	29	46	75
Western Michigan	37	31	68

Finals

Team	1st	2nd	OT	Final
Ohio	33	37	10	80
Buffalo	43	27	9	79