The 1998 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place at SeaGate Centre in Toledo, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

. 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 1998 NCAA Tournament

1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1998, and ended with the championship game on March 30 at the Alamodome in San Antonio,...

. It was 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 three rounds and the top eight MAC teams invited to participate. No teams 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 tournament. Ball State

Ball State Cardinals

Ball State University's athletic teams are called the Cardinals. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Mid-American Conference and located in Muncie, Indiana...

, the MAC West Division co-champion, received the number one seed in the tournament.

Seeding

1. Ball State
2. Western Michigan
3. Akron
4. Eastern Michigan
5. Toledo
6. Kent State
7. Miami
8. Marshall

Bracket

* Overtime period